The incidence of mortality due to freezing is unknown for most species of reptiles. The observations of Bailey (1948) on DeKay snakes (_Storeria dekayi_) and Legler and Fitch (1957) on collared lizards suggest that rates of mortality are high in dormant reptiles. Bailey (_op. cit._) suggested that winter mortality might act as a natural check on snake populations. Neill (1948a:114) thought more box turtles (_T. carolina_) were killed in Georgia by cold weather in late autumn than "... by all other factors together," and that this winter mortality acted as an effective check on population levels. Neill reported that many turtles left their burrows in late autumn and began to forage; if the temperature dropped suddenly, the turtles became "... too torpid to dig" and froze. If ornate box turtles are occasionally caught in the open by a sudden cooling of air temperature, it would occur at a time of year when temperatures would approximate freezing but would drop not far below this level; laboratory and field records show that adults could probably survive these low temperatures overnight and warm up sufficiently on the following day to seek adequate shelter. Box turtles deepening their burrows in winter do so at body temperatures somewhat lower than 10 degrees (near the minimum temperature at which co-ordinated activity was observed in the laboratory); turtles found in the open in late October were known to burrow into the ground at body temperatures of approximately 15 degrees. Emergence from hibernation usually occurs in April but in some years a few turtles may emerge as early as the first week of March. Emergence is stimulated by temperature and humidity. Fitch (1956b:438) stated that emergence was delayed until "... the ground has been sufficiently moistened and until air temperatures have reached at least 26°." Box turtles at the Reservation emerged on April 21 in 1954 and from April 16 to 17 in 1955. William R. Brecheisen found recently emerged box turtles in Anderson County on April 2, 1955, and March 6, 1956. Turtles were found facing upward in their hibernacula in early March. As the temperature of the soil rises, they move slowly upward, usually following the route by which they entered. They remain just below the surface of the soil for a week or two before actually emerging; this final phase of emergence is probably hastened by spring rains that soften the soil. Activity may be sporadic after emergence if the weather is cold. A number of box turtles at the Reservation emerged in a cold rain in 1954 when the temperatures of the air and ground were 16 and 13 degrees, respectively, but remained inactive for several days afterward. In 1955 the air and ground temperatures were higher (28° and 17°, respectively) on the day of emergence and box turtles became active almost immediately. DIET