Mossy
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Born: unknown Arrival Date: October 9, 2017, from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA)
Mossy is a beautiful box turtle who entered our care due as a result of a TWRA confiscation. She has a missing left limb, which slows her overall movement. As an eastern box turtle, she can hinge her shell completely shut for defense from predators. Box turtles also undergo brumation, which is a temperature-dependent slow in activity where they will rest underground to stay warm. On warm days, they will resume activity. This differs from hibernation, which is a deep sleep that occurs with some mammals. Unlike many care facilities, we allow our animals to brumate at Reflection Riding so they will follow their natural cycles of living.
We want to emphasize that it is illegal to own any native animal as a pet in the state of Tennessee, including this species. Please be respectful of native animals and leave them be in their natural habitat.
Mossy is in our program rotation, which means she is a possible candidate for our educational wildlife programs. We believe in the animal’s consent, so we will only bring out an ambassador who feels up to the challenge for any given program.