Eastern Box Turtles

When I was young, my father would bring me box turtles he found in the road in mid-summer. I kept them outside, fed them tomatoes, dog food, and lettuce. In August I released them in the woods again. As an adult, I had a house with a front yard garden. I was honored to be visited by a box turtle, who deposited her eggs in the soft Earth. I lost the house before they hatched and neighbors destroyed the garden when I left. I hope the eggs survived. Turtles are so vulnerable and ancient. In addition to deaths and population declines from the market for wild animals, they die from habitat destruction and car fatalities. And I am complicit in their demise.