{"id":133569,"date":"2024-09-02T03:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T08:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=133569"},"modified":"2024-09-01T18:03:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T23:03:46","slug":"urban-three-toed-box-turtle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/02\/urban-three-toed-box-turtle\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Three-toed Box Turtle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was enjoying my coffee outside yesterday morning when I spotted this Three-toed Box Turtle walking through the dew-covered grasses. Yes, I had to take photos.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133566 size-full\" title=\"Urban Three-toed Box Turtle in September\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg\" alt=\"Urban Three-toed Box Turtle in September, Sebastian County, Arkansas\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Urban Three-toed Box Turtle in September \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/200, ISO 1250, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I put on some waterproof slip-on shoes and walked through the damp grass to the turtle. The light was awful; thick clouds hung overhead in the sky, and it looked like it might rain at any moment.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing that these turtles will go into hibernation after the first hard frost in the fall spurred me on. It was, after all, the first day of September. Cooler mornings and days really aren&#8217;t all that far away.<\/p>\n<p>The hibernation process for Three-toed Box Turtles involves the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They dig shallow burrows, often only a few inches deep, covered with leaf litter.<\/li>\n<li>Entering hibernation is a slow, gradual process.<\/li>\n<li>They produce a natural antifreeze in their blood and tissues to protect against freezing temperatures.<\/li>\n<li>Their heart and blood vessels continue to function at very low levels during hibernation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Three-toed Box Turtles typically hibernate in burrows in wooded areas and they often return to the same general area to hibernate each year.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve had a blast photographing these Three-toed Box Turtles this year. Turtles weren\u2019t a subject I saw often in Utah. Mostly, I encountered Red-eared Sliders, which aren\u2019t native to that state.<\/p>\n<p>The box turtle was smaller than most of the ones I photographed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, but it wasn\u2019t exactly tiny either. I\u2019m not sure why the turtle was wandering through the grass or where it was going. I am just glad it caught my attention.<\/p>\n<p>The Three-toed Box Turtle didn\u2019t appreciate me being close. The turtle pulled her or his head into their shell not long after I took this photo. I thanked the turtle, moved away, and watched from a distance as it headed toward a hedge.<\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Three-toed_box_turtle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Three-toed Box Turtle<\/span><\/a> was my favorite subject of the day!<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/three-toed-box-turtle-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see my Three-toed Box Turtle gallery. I will be adding more images of this species as time allows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was enjoying my coffee outside yesterday morning when I spotted this Three-toed Box Turtle walking through the dew-covered grasses. Yes, I had to take photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,13951,14071],"tags":[14077,14078,4142,13931,3747,4109,4378,13136,2315,14072,14073,7945,7946,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-133569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-sebastian-county","category-three-toed-box-turtles","tag-box-turtle","tag-box-turtles","tag-close-up","tag-garden","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-morning","tag-reptiles","tag-summer-3","tag-terrapene-carolina-ssp-triunguis","tag-three-toed-box-turtle","tag-turtle","tag-turtles","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-september-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-yKl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143207,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/30\/three-toed-box-turtle-in-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":0},"title":"Three-toed Box Turtle In Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought that I was seeing things for a few seconds two days ago when I spotted this Three-toed Box Turtle walking north through the dew laden grasses.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three-toed Box Turtle in spring grasses, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/three-toed-box-turtle-spring-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-9475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/three-toed-box-turtle-spring-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-9475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/three-toed-box-turtle-spring-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-9475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/three-toed-box-turtle-spring-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-9475.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":147999,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":1},"title":"Three-toed Box Turtle At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I\u2019m sharing two views of a Three-toed Box Turtle I photographed early last week at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Oklahoma&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frontal view of an adult Three-toed Box Turtle, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114091,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/02\/three-toed-box-turtle-photos-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":2},"title":"Three-toed Box Turtle Photos From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am showcasing four Three-toed Box Turtle photos that I took while I visited Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Oklahoma&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three-toed Box Turtle glowing in morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/three-toed-box-turtle-male-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-7238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/three-toed-box-turtle-male-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-7238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/three-toed-box-turtle-male-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-7238.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/three-toed-box-turtle-male-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-7238.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113912,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/21\/red-eared-slider-turtle-portraits-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":3},"title":"Red-eared Slider Turtle Portraits in Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I caught movement out of the corner of my eye while photographing birds in my friend Steve's yard. Turns out it was a Red-eared Slider turtle.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up Red-eared Slider in grass, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/red-eared-slider-yard-arkansas-mia-mcphrson-1237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/red-eared-slider-yard-arkansas-mia-mcphrson-1237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/red-eared-slider-yard-arkansas-mia-mcphrson-1237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/red-eared-slider-yard-arkansas-mia-mcphrson-1237.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128188,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/06\/birds-and-wildlife-from-arkansas-and-sequoyah-nwr-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":4},"title":"Birds and Wildlife From Arkansas And Sequoyah NWR In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a bunch of bird and wildlife photos that I have recently photographed in my friend Steve's yard in Arkansas, and from Sequoyah NWR in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Lady Butterflies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Lady Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-lady-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Northern Flicker in Arkansas, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nothern-flicker-adult-female-grass-mia-mcpherson-5375.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nothern-flicker-adult-female-grass-mia-mcpherson-5375.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nothern-flicker-adult-female-grass-mia-mcpherson-5375.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nothern-flicker-adult-female-grass-mia-mcpherson-5375.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3715,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/18\/female-loggerhead-sea-turtle-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":133569,"position":5},"title":"Female Loggerhead Sea Turtle &#8211; Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"At first I was so stunned that I wasn't taking any images of the Loggerhead Turtle, I just stood there admiring this temporarily earthbound sea creature. She was so beautiful to me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Florida&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Loggerhead Sea Turtle leaving the nest site, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/loggerhead-turtle-female-nesting-mia-mcpherson-7997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/loggerhead-turtle-female-nesting-mia-mcpherson-7997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/loggerhead-turtle-female-nesting-mia-mcpherson-7997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/loggerhead-turtle-female-nesting-mia-mcpherson-7997.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}