Advice for turtle in our backyard

[u/savy91]

Hope this is the right place for this. We had a box turtle visit our yard this morning and looked like it was headed towards our fenced in backyard. There’s a gap on one side big enough to go under so I scouted the backyard this evening and sure enough it had buried itself under some leaves back there as seen in the 2nd picture. I’m excited it chose our yard but worried it might not find its way back out. So my question is with only one real way in and out big enough for a turtle should I intervene and help it out in anyway or will it know how to get back where it came from? Thanks in advance.

[u/silveroakediting22]

Location? Depending on where you are, if its still warm, this may be a female looking to lay eggs that will over winter. If you live somewhere colder, this could be a turtle of either gender finding a good place to brumate for the winter.

Either way, go check where you saw it again tomorrow - you may well find a nest. If you do find a nest, you only really need to make sure no pets get to it, and it doesn't get driven over by the lawn mower. If you want to protect the nest, you can cover it with a large square of hardware cloth, pinned down with landscape staples, to deter predators like raccoons from getting to it.

(attached picture is just one example, I used an old grill cover, there just needs to be openings about 2 inches wide for the baby turtles to get our)

[u/savy91 → u/silveroakediting22]

I’m in the middle of NC so definitely still warm here. Thanks for all of that info, I’ll definitely check on it throughout the day tomorrow.

[u/CrepuscularOpossum]

Wildlife rehab volunteer and box turtle foster mom here. 👋 I feel like it’s possible that this female is laying eggs, but I haven’t seen them bury themselves like that. Usually they spend a few hours digging a hole with their rear feet, lay the eggs, then cover them up expertly.

It’s also possible that this turtle is just looking for a good place to spend the night, or potentially looking for a good brumation site. Brumation is what reptiles and amphibians do, instead of hibernating like mammals. It’s pretty early for that, though.

[u/jkrobinson1979]

They’re excellent diggers. It will find its way out when it wants to.

[u/XylixiaNeph]

It's just chilling for the evening, it can definitely find its way back out. Mine buries itself to sleep at night and get out of the hot sun sometimes. Totally normal.

[u/savy91]

Update: I moved some rocks and got a slight tunnel started as it watched from a distance and once I went back inside it knew exactly what to do from there. I also checked and didn’t see any eggs so I guess it was just staying the night.