please help identify this turtle for us

We get regular visits from this turtle (drawn, possibly, to crumbs from peanut delight suet, which it seems to love). The turtle appears from under my hydrangeas, comes out into the open, transgresses the yard and usually exits into the English ivy at the rear of our yard. It can move very rapidly when it wants, actually, even faster than "very rapidly"--we have dubbed it a "racing turtle". It can scare birds when it wants, protecting a space (with suet crumbs) from doves and grackles. Here are a few shots. It has beautiful orange scales and orange eyes, and camouflages perfectly against Georgia clay and woodland leaves. Thanks for your help.

here's one to give a sense of scale

side view showing shell

one of my favorite shots, getting a drink

OOOOOOH, HOW CUTE IS THAT??
I've absolutely no idea what kind of turtle/tortoise it is but it is a beautiful, and very appealing little thing, although the doves and grackles might not agree. You are so lucky to have him/her living in your yard.

Terri

I bet it is a male..with those red/orange eyes..it is a mystery to me, the shell doesn't seem domed enough, for it to be a Box Turtle...I like that picture, of him, drinking, too...

Thank you both for your comments, I appreciate them very much. I had no idea how interesting watching/photographing a turtle could be, and it's just been a delight to watch the adventures unfold. Here's one more of my favorites, a young squirrel is curiously trying to make sense of what is before him.

How cute!! I saw no baby turtles this year at all. Hoping that I just didn't cross their paths at the right time.

It looks like a male Eastern Box Turtle. (Males have bright red-orange eyes) It seems to have a bit longer neck than average and I think that's what makes his shell seem so small. They love fruit, vegies and bits of raw meat or worms. It will also take the occasional soak in shallow water. The saucer is perfect.

was fixing to say box turtle too sure looks like one

Nice pictures. I too am amazed by the speed of turtles when they want to move fast. They can really haul shell. And in the water...they are like lightning. The old cartoons had it all wrong.

Thank you all again: your comments give rise to more questions from me, if (as I hope), you are still following the thread. What color eyes do the female box turtles have? I understand birds are anatomically similar to reptiles, and am wondering, with the red/orange male eyes, if their mating habits are similar? Are the males "more flashy" and attractive than the females? Where do box turtles tend to find each other for mating purposes? (There's a road not far from here called "Turtle Club Drive", which I never thought much about, but do they "congregate" in any way?) Here is a picture of our turtle "hauling shell" as cpartschick phrased it. Re turtle diet: I have noticed that this turtle is great at "hunting" worms from the ground, and can also snap flying insects out of the air. One day he patrolled along the perimeter of the house and appeared to be getting the bugs caught in spider webs, in a fashion very similar to how Carolina Wrens do, also looking under leaves for any bugs hiding there.

"birds' eye view" of our turtle--another question, does the similarity in head/neck pattern to those of snakes serve either to protect turtles from bird attacks, or like when I saw him chasing birds away from an area he wanted, make him more fearsome to them? Does anybody know about these patterns?

he's doin' the double-time turtle march!

The females eyes are golden brown and the underside of her shell is level as opposed to the male's slightly concave (so he doesn't slide off during the important stuff). They live singular lives only coming together to mate and then you may see more than one turtle around a female. There may be optimum hatching areas where more than one turtle will lay her eggs and maybe that has something to do with the name of the road.

The coloration on the females and males are nearly identical except for the eyes, though I have seen some that have more distinct coloration or paterning. I don't think the resemblence to snakes has anything to do with scaring birds. Their main defence is their shell.

They are great worm and bug hunters and it does not surprise me at all that they would rob spider webs. They are pretty oportunistic in their feeding habbits eating fruits and flowers (especially hibiscus) and even carrion that they come across. Try putting out watermellon rinds, That's one of their favorites.

If you think he is fast, you should see a wood turtle (similar to boxies). They are the fastest land turtles.

Wow! Thank you so much, jylgaskin, you seem to be very knowledgeable and this has been very helpful to me. (It would be great if some day a wood turtle whizzed by). I appreciate your comments very much.
Suzanne

Re watermelon rinds: we do have watermelon here, but I'm not sure how to put it out--chopped into smaller pieces, or just lay some out there and watch? What do you suggest? Here's how much he cared (not at all) for lettuce and carrot peelings.
Thanks again.

Just put it out there however it is, they will climb in for the flesh if they have to.

I do wildlife rehab (including turtles) and we pet turtles for several years.

I was wondering how you know so much: that explains it. Thanks (from wildlife lovers) for doing the work you do.

It's nice to be appreciated by someone.It makes being pooped on all the time easier.

ROTFLOL at that photo of the little fella standing 'way' up to reach the water! That is the best and cutest turtle pic I have ever seen. In fact, all of your shots of this turtle are adorable and seem to tell an interesting story all by themselves. What a cute little 'friend' you have there.

Recently, I drove around an Eastern Box turtle that was in the road (in my community, speed limit 25mph). He was all closed up in his shell sitting there in the road. The driver before me had also gone around him. As soon as I had passed him I realized that the next driver might hit him before they realized he was there. I turned around (in the road) at the very next block and rushed back intending to move him out of the road. I arrived just in time to see him step up onto the adjacent curb and amble away. I was more than a bit surprised at how quickly he had managed to get out of the road. You are the first (that I've seen/read but I'm not that well read when it come to turtles) to document this 'hauling shell' thing.

LOL at you, too, jyl - with all that poop!

I see an Eastern Box turtle around here a lot, too. I've tried to feed him/her all kinds of things, esp dog/cat food. Mostly, 'my' turtle shows up rummaging about the flower beds, looking for insects I guess. He/she does not appear to be all that fond of me as he gets a move on every time I show up with the camera (or the food). I've been putting a lot of watermelon (and some cantaloupe and honeydew) out for the raccoons. By morning all that is left of the watermelons most of the time is a paper thin green shell that curls and dries just like a leaf. Of the cantaloupe and honeydew all I ever find is a 'slick' or a skid mark where they used to be. After reading this I'm wondering if the turtle may show up 2nd or 3rd in line after the raccoons and possibly the opossums to finish off those melons. One things for sure, there is never anything left over. (I have seen the turtle in the brush adjoining the area where I feed the raccoons, BTW, so he/she seems to know where we keep the goodies.)

turtles eat during day light hours, the avoid raccoons and possoms as these are turtle preditors.

Ah, well that makes a lot of sense. LOL. But since I don't actually go out there in the early AM or for that matter at all on work days, the turtle still has plenty of time to nibble on the watermelon 'carcass' before I see it again the following evening and pronounce it little more than a shriveled up shell or, in the case of cantaloupe and honeydew, a skid mark on the grass. That wiley turtle does often hang out by day in the same area that is later occupied by the raccoons at night though.

Oh, and upon further reflection I'm not so sure 'my' group of pampered raccoons would actually eat a turtle. They turn their haughty noses up when offered beef, chicken, pork, or any of a myriad of different types of fish including catfish, salmon, whiting, shrimp, and surimi. This is a constant source of confusion for me since they all seem to love dried cat food which is supposedly comprised of one or more of the listed meats plus corn and more corn - and they also hate corn, raw or cooked, on the cob or not. Strange creatures.