2026 Turtle Study

The 2026 Box Turtle Study season has come to a close. The cold weather at the beginning of the season and the extreme heat of the summer definitely had an effect on the number of box turtles found this year. However, park staff and volunteers still found a good number of box turtles, many of them being recaptures. Recaptured individuals are those found and notched in previous years. Recaptured box turtles are very important because they help us track where the individual turtle has been found over the years. Accumulating this data will help us map the individual box turtle’s territory.


I would like to thank park staff, and volunteers for contributing to the study this year. We’re finding fewer deceased turtles on the road, and more people are willing to move the turtles across the road in the direction they were heading. If anyone is interested in volunteering for the study next year in any capacity, please email Ranger Pauline at rpcham23@aacounty.org