It’s the time of the year for terrapins (or three-toed box turtles) to be active. This one was found crawling along our driveway. Interesting to note that three-toed box turtles often have four toes. A scientific study of box turtles in Missouri utilized Labrador retrievers to locate turtles buried in the leaves. Over 3,000 box turtles were collected this way.

The bottom shell (or plastron) of this box turtle had evidently been severely cracked, but grew back together. Box turtles are pretty tough – they have been known to live 70 years.