"Growing up in rural Oklahoma, I spent my summers as a child scouting the woods, pastures, and ponds for various critters, including many types of turtles. Of the hundreds of box turtles I have found on my treks, many have shown signs of their struggles on their shells. Some had two small dimples on either side of their carapace from some previous encounter with a dog or perhaps a coyote. Others had circular scuffs across the top of their carapace, leading me to believe that particular turtle had a close encounter with a lawn mower blade. Still others had sizeable portions of their carapace missing altogether, along the edges, perhaps from a brush with a vehicle’s tires. A few were even missing limbs. One, in particular, had a significant amount of damage to the front quadrant of her carapace, parallel with the hinge in the plastron, that when fully closed, you could still see her head and front legs through a large, jagged hole.

Box turtles are most active during the early morning hours, or immediately following a rain. As such, turtles tend to cross the back roads and highways on their way to another field. Unfortunately for the turtles, many commuters are also on their way to work in those early morning hours. As a child, my parents would stop and pick up these wayward travelers and as an adult, I still stop and help them across the road. Every now and then, I would happen across a turtle that didn’t fair too well while trying to cross the road. Most would soon die from their injuries. However, some I was able to nurse back to health and later release on my property. Three particular injuries stand out in my mind.

The first was a simple case of a box turtle that had been picked up by a canine. The teeth marks were apparently infected, as the turtle’s carapace had what appeared to be a greenish puss within the bite wounds. The turtle also seem sluggish and his eyes were only partially opened. I brought the turtle to my mom, who then gave me an eye-dropper and a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, which I then applied to each wound. The turtle was then placed in a secure cage. Over the course of a few weeks, I would apply peroxide to the bite marks twice a day, as well as provide the turtle with fresh vegetables and grubs. Soon, he was as active as any turtle could be and the bite marks were nothing more than bragging rights.

The second was much more serious. This particular box turtle was only a few years old and quite small. Mom and I were on our way into town when we saw the little turtle in the middle of the road. She stopped, and I bounded from the van to scoop up the turtle and take it home. As I approached the turtle, I noticed its head was fully extended, and even as I drew closer, it made no attempt at withdrawing to the safety of its shell. Upon close inspection, I discovered a tire had apparently brushed the turtle’s head. One side of her face was severally damaged, including the eye, and her nose was skinned to the bone. While I was certain the little turtle was doomed, I did what I could to tend to her wounds, again using hydrogen peroxide to clean the wounds. Mom suggested using an anti-bacterial ointment as well. As before, I provided the turtle with plenty of food and water in the safety of the cage. I was sure the situation was hopeless, but I did what I could all the same. One day turned into two, two into three, and soon a full week had passed. The wounds were beginning to scab over and it was clear that should she survive, her face would be disfigured and she would be blind in one eye. By the end of the summer, I watched her crawl into the woods, seemingly uninhibited by her impaired sight.

The third was a male box turtle that I found in my neighbor’s field after he had brush hogged earlier that morning. This turtle suffered significant damage to the left side of his carapace from what I assume was a glancing blow from a tractor tire. Though it was bleeding from its wounds, the damage appeared confined to the edge of the shell and the apex of the carapace was still fully intact. Fortunately, the shell was fragmented into large pieces, all of which were still attached and the plastron was undamaged. Using a pair of tweezers, I carefully shifted the shell fragments into place. Once again, I used the old standby—peroxide—and once again I was able to release another box turtle on my property that would have otherwise died from infection.

While the methods of care I have outlined are by no means guaranteed to save every injured box turtle, they have worked well for me in the past. I figure, trying to save an injured animal is always preferable to just leaving them to their own fate. It would be lofty of me to hope no one ever needed to tend to an injured animal, turtle or otherwise, but I do hope that perhaps you give the good ol’ peroxide and an anti-bacterial ointment a try if you find yourself with an injured turtle on your hands. And please, be careful on the roads in the mornings or after a rain. These little guys and gals face enough danger in the wild without having to worry about your tires."