calling any one from missouri

[shawluvsbirds]

Twin Acres is for sale--on the way to Joplin, in Dusquesne, is this unique property. In the 1950's, identical twin girls married identical twin boys. They bought this land and built identical brick houses facing each other. They shared a 2 car garage in between. The ladies bought identical furnishings, decorating the same, down to every detail. They each had 1 child, a girl and a boy who looked a lot alike. It must have been an interesting way to grow up! Their descendants have put the place up for sale. There are a million questions I'd love to ask about this family!
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Interesting!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

This is Ronald the three toed box turtle...

... I kinda prefer the smaller ornate box turtles we have around here... but I know Ronald can’t help that he was born in the wrong shell...

...I figured I’d save him a little trouble and round up some of the fallen mulberries for him ... this is his third handful ...

....makes me wonder how big a turtle belly is?

 

[SueT]

This is Ronald the three toed box turtle...

... I kinda prefer the smaller ornate box turtles we have around here... but I know Ronald can’t help that he was born in the wrong shell...

...I figured I’d save him a little trouble and round up some of the fallen mulberries for him ... this is his third handful ...

....makes me wonder how big a turtle belly is?

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I love it! and I love mulberries!!! Tis the season! We have a big mulberry tree out in the pasture, most of the branches out of reach. Yesterday I rode on the fender of our tractor with DH driving, so I wouldn't walk thru ticks, but he brought the trimmer and cut the grass short under the tree. Many fond memories of mulberry picking/eating together......

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I love it! and I love mulberries!!! Tis the season! We have a big mulberry tree out in the pasture, most of the branches out of reach. Yesterday I rode on the fender of our tractor with DH driving, so I wouldn't walk thru ticks, but he brought the trimmer and cut the grass short under the tree. Many fond memories of mulberry picking/eating together......
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My mamma always told me not to eat them I'd get sick. Of course I didn't listen.
I Never did get sick.

That a know of.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

My mamma always told me not to eat them I'd get sick. Of course I didn't listen.
I Never did get sick.

That a know of.

I think your mom was right ... I wouldn’t eat a box turtle

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I think your mom was right ... I wouldn’t eat a box turtle

ROFL!
Where box turtles are concerned, I was told that if it bites you it will not let go until the next full moon.
I never got bit by one to find out.

 

[SueT]

I have a favorite box turtle, my cucumber turtle. I posted about him last year in a gardening thread. I wasn't always fond of him tho...here's what I wrote:
I have always planted cucumbers along a fence. Even then, a box turtle would eat what he could reach of the low hanging fruit which was usually the bottom halves of several.

I moved the turtle to the far side of the yard, and it came back. I took a pic of him, and then drove him about 1.5 mi away and let him go. I told my sister about it, and she sent an article that says box turtles are territorial, and they will return to the same place or die trying. Then I felt really bad. He'd have to cross a 100 acre corn field, woods, a little canyon, more woods, 2 streams, steep hills, pastures, people cutting hay....no way could he survive. This was in June. In Sept, a box turtle was back, under the cucumber plant. I took another pic, compared to 1st, and it was the same individual! These turtles have unique markings on their shells, no two alike. It's like our fingerprints. Now he is welcome to the cucumbers he can reach and I hope I see him this year!
(I wrote 1 on his shell with black marker, and that was gone, but it would get rubbed off considering what he had to crawl thru.)
I did see him that year, not this year yet. But again, he's welcome to cucumbers which I have planted in the same place.
As a contrast in markings, here's another turtle that lives behind the barn and I've seen more than one year. This one is much darker, more jeweled in appearance. Maybe different species? One eastern, one ornate? I don't know. We also have the plain brown ones, which I have called Western box turtles.

 

[jthornton]

I didn't know that turtles would home... I have one or more box turtles that hang around my place. From time to time I've seen a western painted but not often. Usually just the 3 toed box turtle and sliders by the lake.

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/search/turtle

JT

 

[SueT]

Ok, the term Western refers to the ornate, and as Ozark Biddies mentioned, the brown ones are the 3 toed....and it shows we do not have the Eastern species....

Here's a link to determining sex in various types of box turtles:
http://boxturtlesite.info/malefemale.html

 

[SueT]

I read something else interesting--that different types of box turtles can interbreed. This may explain my cucumber turtle's brownish coloration, it could be half 3 toed, and half ornate.