Eastern Box Boxturtle 2024 Summer Season

Turtle M1(Female) was tracked less than normal again this season due to the hot weather and long distances. M1 did not cross the road into the meadow to nest this season,

0. GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M3(male) strayed from his normal activity area for the forth season. He met and mated with M43 a number of times, but again never mated with M24 this season. Turtle M3's change in travel behavior in recent years has more than doubled his tracked travel distance compared to most of his previous tracked years.

He did not cross the road, as usual, but traveled close by mid summer.

3.6 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M6 (female)

0.1 GPS mile tracked this season. It's not known how far M6 traveled this season or if she crossed into the medow a common seaslon activity for this turtle. She was found early in the summer on the north slope, but lost for the majority of the summer. Luckily, M6, who has been tracked since 2009, consistanly used only 2 hibernation sites: stump holes at the bottom of the slope, and she was found in the upper stump hole November 8th.

Turtle M10 (male)

2.5 GPS miles tracked this season. M10 traveled much further from his primary activity area than prevoius seasons, including across 2 ridges and into Edsel Hollow where a number of study turtles reside.

He hibernated in a completely different location than the area he appeared to be estblishing as his hibernation spot, instead hibernated in the woods on the adjacent south slope.

Turtle M11 (female)

1.4 GPS miles tracked this season. . She was tracked from emergence to a small activity area in the meadow where she spent most of the season, before she traveled back through the meadow toward her hibernation location in a ditch beside the road. Apparently, the weather turned before she made it the entire distance, so instead hibernated in the woods nearby.

Turtle M13 (Male) usually thought of as a ridge resident, left the ridgetop, crossed the road and spent most of the summer months in a sunny, recentlycut, vista cut . , be instead he continued untill he crossed the road and traveled down a very steep slope where he was found in a sheltered area under pines.

0.5 GPS miles tracked this season

Turtle M18 (male) is primarily a meadow resident during the summer months, but usually hibernates in the woods.nearby.

This season he spent about 3/4 of his travels in the upper meadow, and the rest in the woods nearby. This is his normal activity area, and his hibernation in a stand of trees in the meadow this season is normal also.

1.4 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M24 (female) remained within her recent activity area the entire season, and did not cross the road into the meadow to nest, which is her normal summer travel.

0.6 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M27 (male)

2.2 GPS miles tracked this season. M27 is another long tracked study turtle who has remained within a defined, relatively small, primary activity area: a ridge top and north slope.

Turtle M29 (male) primarily a meadow resident, .it was surprising to see him travel down the north slope, almost to the busy highway, before finally traveling back up-slope and back across the ridge top to his normal activity area. Turtle M48, another male, made almost the same trip, and campe back to the ridge top.

1.2 GPS miles tracked this season

Turtle M32 (male) was tracked less this season than in the past, but traveled the same activity area, in the same unusual up and downslope pattern he traveled in previous years.

0.6 GPS mile tracked this season

Turtle M41 (female) DEAD has been a primary resident of the north facing slope since first found, and spent this entire 2023 season on that side of the ridge and hibernated near the bottom in a ravine. She was found dead only a short distance from her hibernation spot in the open, so she was killed after emerging in the early spring..

Turtle M42 (female) is primarily a resident of the sheltered cove and south slope where she hibernates, but travels to the meadow, crossing and re-crossing the road during some summer season after traveling a very long distance.

GPS miles tracked this season

Turtle M43 (female) spent nearly the entire season traveling her normal activity area, but as is becoming normal, made one long forray back to the Cabin Meeting Area and returned to her primary activity area. M43 may be making this long trek to nest, but thatis not yet known for sure. M43 is observed mating with M3 and other males one or more time each season, and this summer, M3 traveled to M43's area several times.

2.0 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M48 (male) is primarily a ridge-top resident, and that is where he chose to stay most of this season. But he took one long forray down the north slope, almost to the busy highway, and returned to the ridge top.

Turtle M48 is rarely observed mating or meeting, but usually covers a large area of the ridgetop during the summer seasons

1.7 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M49 (female) Another large and active female, M49 was originally found in 2017, but lost only 2 days later. She has spent most of her travels since being re-found, in the hollow across the ridge, and has hibernated on the very top of the ridge for several seasons. She travels to the Cabin Meeting Area each year and her travels cover approximately the same area every season.

1.6 GPS miles tracked this season

Turtle M50 (male) M50 hibernated in 2023 on the top of the ridge near the clearcut.

This season he returned to within a short distance of his 2019 site to hibernate. (yellow line)

M50 was originally found crossing the road into the meadow 5 years ago, and has been tracked traveling a number of very long annual routes since. This male was once thought to be a possible transient, but has continued to travel within the study area. No definate primary activity area has yet to be determined, but

M50 was tracked 2.2 GPS miles this season.

Turtle M57 (female) Since being injured on a long forray 2 years ago, M57 has remained mostly inside her primary activity area. This season she made one long loop across the north slope into M71, and M74's activity areas and returned. She shares this area with M27(male), but has not yet been observed mating..

1.0 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M58 (male) was tracked out of hibernation on top of the ridge and back into hibernation in 2024.

M58 was found 9/2/18, lost, found again in 2019, lost, and found once again in September 2020 when meeting with M13 on the top of the ridge. M58 spends time during the summer months in the lower meadow, where other turtles go to meet and mate and nest.

2.1 GPS miles tracked this season.

Turtle M64(Male), was found in 2020 while mating with M63(F), who was found new in 2019. Again this season, he stayed within a relatively small primary activity area of about 7 acres.

There are no physical barriers around this activity area, and M64 is continually active during the summer months. The tracked route may appear to be random movement, but it includes a number of familiar small open spaces and landmarks.

Turtle M64 was not tracked or mapped this season but was kept safe from local redknecks, within his primary activity area.

M66 (Male), grams, was found crossing the road on June 3rd, 2021 by employees Chris and Troy. Thought to certainly be a transient from the local Box turtle population to the north, he was found there several times this season.

GPS miles traveled:

2.2 miles in 2021, 22 points

1.7 miles in 2022, 11 pts

Turtle M68 (Male), 351 grams, was found mating with M24 on 7/28/21. M24 traveled outside her normal activity area to find this male. M68 is evidently not a transient, as he stayed almost entirely within the area of the ridgetop and slopes the entire season

GPS miles tracked in 2022

Turtle M73 (male), 490 grams, was found 9/13/22 close to M38(f). He is certainly an Edsel Hollow resident and travels long distances each season, but all within the hollow. This turtle appears to travel the same part of the slopes as M49 (f), but have rarely been found close together, at least in the short time M73 has been tracked.

2.1 GPS miles tracked in 2024 (yellow line)

The '23-'24 winter was very mild with no snow pack and only a couple minor ice storms which covered the ground surface for only a few days. Spring was much more mild than is normal with above average temperatures and daily rains more frequent. But soil temperatures remained consistant and turtle emergence was only a little later than usual. The greater part of the summer was back to back heat waves, and drought records but as the heat left it was replaced by daily rains and heavy thunderstorms.

Winter came in quickly around 10-11-24 with temperatures in the 40's and cold nights in the 30's. The second bout of winter came in in late November and early December with very windy and cold storms that came in from the north, with temperatures below normal (single digits), but no snow or ice.

One new turtle found ths season (M75), andthere were 2 refinds (M12 and M63). There were 8 road crossings (2 on a paved highway, and 6 on gravel roads), with no resulting injuries.

Turtle M12 (male) was found 6/14/24 after being lost last season when his 2 radios were found on the ground likely removed by small mammals which chew on the batteries and transmitters.

0. GPS miles tracked this season, but he surely traveled much further, as he was tracked very little this season. M12 hibernated the first week in november in the same splace he hibernated in previous years.

Turtle M63 (female) Originally found new July 2019 on the asphault of my own driveway (here), M63 was tracked for 2 seasons before being lost due to bad transmitters. An NPS employee found M63 crossing the road in 2022 and ripped off tranmitters, vial and other markings........but as a result she was lost for the remainder of that season as well as 2023.

On June 18th, 2024, at 7:00 p.m., she was re-found only inches away from her original find location, again in my own driveway. Missing transmitters and all other markings re-processed and radio-tagged, and remained in this area she shares with M64(male), for the remainder of the summer.

M63 was not tracked and mapped this season.