i like when i get a chance to see them real good like this during the winter , all the ones i seen looked great......they best enjoy this abnormally warm weather , cause without a doubt "it's" coming ...... we've had 3 winters and springs so far this year, our first winter was the last week of november first spring was the first week of december ..... the "dead of winter" here is usually 2nd week of january through the third week of february, it seldom lets up during that period, then we start climbing out of it by march.....they say the climate is warming , last few years the winters been mild but its taken until late may for our ground to warm enough to get the box turtles out on their own....
ground temps here over the last month, light blue is this year, other two are 5 and 10yr averages...... the 50's need to persist for a week or so to get the box turtles to come out .... these box turtles here are buried under 3 feet of leaves and grass , the ground is definitely colder than 50 under that, i wouldn't be surprised if it high 30's low 40's, i've kept a temp probe in there in the past.... in the spring i need to remove a lot of the leaves or it stays cold under there for too long..... without removing some of the insullation i don't doubt some wouldn't come up until end of june ....
river temps this december have been 33-50F, these rivers here are naturally homes to painted turtles, softshelled turtles , snapping turtles , musk turtles, blanding's turtles, wood turtles , map turtles, and spotted turtles
air temps this month have been 23F to 63F
doubtfully we're going to escape this, the less of it the better i like it......
was 7 F degrees and sunny when i took these pics....,these are the only two turtles i seen this morning.... the wood turtle came out from under the rock when he seen me, never came up for air and went back under the rock ......warmest day i see forecast this week is 24F , winter is here for us........
this el nino stuff is for real , warmest winter of my lifetime, never seen nothing like it , 70's end of february , first week of march, northeast ohio...... least snow too, by about 4 feet ...... the soil temp is currently 62F , the 10yr average is 36.6F
Yes agree it been a mild Feb in the UK bar the abundance of rain and occasional snow fall. I gave speedy an outside walk today as the sun was warm and he loved the exercise and exploring. Not happy to return to the inside enc but hey that life 🐢🤣