Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata AgassizLegler, John M.
Science
Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz
Legler, John M.
Ornate box turtle
The actual home range of almost every individual studied, even
of those individuals for which the most data were available, probably
differed at least slightly from the observed or estimated home
range. One adult female, for example, was captured six times in
two years within a radius of approximately 50 feet. Another female
was found 2780 feet from her last point of capture. These last
two records were regarded as unusual; when they were grouped
with records of the 44 individuals mentioned above, the average
radius of home range for the entire group was much larger (327
feet).
[Illustration: FIG. 29. The movements of a gravid female of
_T. o. ornata_ in the southern ravine area at the Damm Farm in
a period of ten days in June, 1956. Her movements were, for the
most part, in and around several ravines (shown on map by
broken lines) where she was searching for a nesting site. For
explanation of symbols see legend for Fig. 28.]
Homing Behavior
Gould (1957) reported that 22 of 43 _T. carolina_ moved in a homeward
direction when they were released in open fields up to 5.8 miles from
their original points of capture. Turtles oriented themselves by the
sun; homeward headings were inaccurate or lacking on overcast days
and, light reflected from a mirror caused turtles to alter their
courses. Seven of ten turtles released more than 150 miles from home
headed in directions that corresponded most nearly to the headings
last taken (at release-points near home base) and did not necessarily
correspond to the direction of home. Gould's studies point out that
box turtles perhaps practice a kind of "solar navigation." His work
raises the question of whether the movements of box turtles are guided
by the sighting of local landmarks or whether such landmarks alter the
course of movement only when acting as barriers.
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