Eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina

Damage Prevention and Control Methods

Cultural Methods

The best control for box, pond, and marsh turtles in rice fields is to drain irrigation canals and fallow fields during winter months. Without a permanent water source year-round, these species do not reach large enough populations to become a serious economic problem.

Ponds that are used for the production of channel catfish or other finfish are routinely harvested by seining. The seining process will also capture turtles. Farmers can control turtle populations by moving these captured turtles to their natural habitats.

Repellents, Toxicants, and Fumigants

None are registered.

Trapping

Since turtles generally are not a pest to people, control measures are limited primarily to trapping. Trapping can be used quite effectively to reduce local populations of these species where damage occurs. The best place to trap turtles is in the quiet water areas of streams and ponds, or in the shallow water of lakes. Soft-bottom areas near aquatic vegetation are excellent spots.

The best seasons for trapping are spring, summer, and early fall. Most turtles hibernate through the winter, except in the extreme south, and do not feed, making trapping ineffective. Methods of trapping are described for various types of turtles in the following sections.

Traps should be baited with fresh fish or red meat. Catfish heads and cut carp are regarded as two of the best baits available for trapping turtles. Baits should be suspended in traps on a bait hook or placed in bait containers for maximum effectiveness. In areas where turtle populations are high, it is often necessary to check traps two or three times per day and add fresh bait, since turtles are capable of consuming large quantities of bait rather quickly.

Snapping and Soft-Shell Turtles

While snapping turtles are in hibernation, they often can be taken in quantities from spring holes and old muskrat holes, under old logs, and in soft bottoms of waterways. Turtle collectors rely on their hunting instincts and experience to locate hibernating turtles. When one is found, it pays to explore the surrounding area carefully because snappers often hibernate together. The method for capture, known as “noodling” or “snagging,” requires a stout hook. One end of an iron rod is bent to form a hook and sharpened; the other end of the rod is used for probing into the mud or soil to locate the turtles. The hunter probes about in the mud bottom until a turtle is located (which feels much like a piece of wood) and then pulls it out with the hook. Turtles are inactive during the winter and offer little resistance to capture, although the landing of large ones may be difficult even for experienced hunters.

Snappers and soft-shelled turtles are sometimes taken on set lines baited with cut fish or other fresh meat. One recommended device is made by tying 4 or 5 feet (1.2 or 1.5 m) of line to a stout flexible pole, 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) long. About 12 inches (30.5 cm) of No. 16 steel wire is placed between the line and the hook, preferably a stout hook about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across between barb and shaft. The end of the pole is pushed into the bank far enough to make it secure at an angle that will hold the bait a few inches (cm) above the bottom.

Snappers and soft-shelled turtles may also be taken readily in baited fyke or hoop nets (Fig. 2). These barrel-shaped traps may sometimes be purchased on the market or made from 3-inch (7.6-cm) square mesh of No. 24 nylon seine twine. The trap should be 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) long from front to back hoop. The three to five hoops per trap

Fig. 2. Hoop net turtle trap

Throat should be 30 inches (76 cm) in diameter, made of wood or 6-gauge steel wire with welded joints. The funnel-shaped mouth should be 18 inches (46 cm) deep from the front hoop to the opening inside. The entrance opening of the funnel should be 1 inch x 20 inches (2.5 x 51 cm). The corners of the opening are tied by twine to the middle hoop. The rear or “box” end may be closed with a purse string. After the hoops have been installed, the net should be treated with a preservative of tanbark, cooper oleate, tar, or asphalt. To keep the trap extended, stretchers of wood or steel wire, about 9 gauge or larger, are fastened along each side.

Coarse mesh poultry wire may be substituted for the twine. If this is done, the frame will be approximately 30 inches (76 cm) square. The shape and dimensions of the entrance as specified should be the same in all traps, as it is easily negotiated by the turtles. The dimensions of the trap may be altered for ease of transportation. A door may be installed in the top to facilitate baiting and removal of turtles. Entrance funnels may be placed on each end if desired.

Fyke or hoop turtle traps should be set with the tops of the hoops just out of the water. This will permit the turtles to obtain air and lessen their struggles to escape, and will enable other turtles to enter the trap more freely. It is necessary to set traps this way if the turtles are to be taken alive. Traps set in streams must be anchored. If the water is too deep for the top of the trap to be out of the water, short logs can be lashed to each side to float the trap. Turtles enter more readily when the mouth of the trap is set downstream.

Box, Pond, and Marsh Turtles

Because of their habits, these species must be captured with methods different from those for snapping and soft-shelled turtles. They cannot be taken in numbers during the winter, like snappers, because they do not congregate in their hibernating places. In the summer some species are gregarious, crowding together in numbers on projecting logs and banks. By taking advantage of this fact, these basking species may be taken by trapping in a box sunk in a place the turtles are using. The turtles crawl up onto the top of the box to bask in the sun, and many of them fall into the trap (Fig. 3).

The top frame of the box may be constructed from discarded telephone poles, imperfect ties, or logs about 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. Old natural unpainted wood is preferred. The logs are mitered at each end to fit together, and the inside enclosure made to mea-sure 2 to 3 feet (61 to 91 cm) square. About half of each log from the top center to the inside under center is lined with zinc or galvanized metal. Turtles that have dropped into the trap are unable to climb over the zinc or galvanized metal covering. From the outside water edge to the top of each log, cleats can be nailed or the logs made rough, so turtles can easily climb on top. Galvanized mesh wire can be fastened to the logs with staples, hooks, or wire to form a wire basket fitting the opening between the logs. One-inch (2.5-cm) mesh is about right if all sizes of turtles are to be trapped. If only larger specimens are sought, however, a 3-inch (7.6-cm) mesh can be used. The trap should be fastened to a stump or some other permanent anchor.

Some trappers prefer to use bait; others leave the traps unbaited. For the capture of snapping and soft-shelled turtles, the trap can be modified by installing funnel-like entrances on one or two sides as described for the hoop traps.

Another type of trap consists of a box with an inclined board leading up to it. The turtles climb up on the board to bask and drop off into the box. Figure 4 shows the same trap with pivotal boards placed so that turtles crawling out on the boards overbalance on the terminal end and are dropped into the box.

Shooting

In some states, shooting can also be used as a means of reducing populations in ponds and lakes. This technique, however, is not very effective.

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