Few first-hand observations on predators of _T. ornata_ are available
and I have found little direct evidence of predation in the course of
this study. In general, adults of the species seem to have few natural
enemies other than man. Several of my colleagues at the University of
Kansas have observed dogs carrying box turtles in their mouths or
chewing on them. Frank B. Cross told me his dog caught and ate young
_T. ornata_ in Payne County, Oklahoma, and A. B. Leonard once saw a
badger carrying one in Dewy County, Oklahoma. At the Reservation, a
freshly killed juvenile was found beneath the nest of a crow (_Corvus
brachyrhynchos_) and remains of a hatchling were found in a scat of a
copperhead (_Agkistrodon contortrix_).
Dr. Fred H. Dale, Director of the Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel,
Maryland, kindly furnished photostatic copies of cards, from the
Division of Food Habits Research of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, recording the instances in which _Terrapene ornata_ was
listed as a food-item. In one instance the stomach of each of two
nestlings, in the same nest, of the White-necked Raven (_Corvus
cryptoleucus_) in Terry County, Texas, contained remains of recently
hatched ornate box turtles; the remains of one turtle made up 64 per
cent of the contents of one stomach, and parts of three turtles made
up 80 per cent of the contents of the other stomach. Each of two
stomachs of the coyote (_Canis latrans_) from Quay County, New Mexico,
contained a "trace" of ornate box turtle.
Wild carnivores known to occur on the Damm Farm were raccoons
(_Procyon lotor_), striped skunks (_Mephitis mephitis_), badgers
(_Taxidea taxus_), and coyotes (_Canis latrans_); all were suspect as
predators of ornate box turtles.
On December 10, 1953, ten dead box turtles (eight adults and two
juveniles) were discovered at the top of a cut bank on the Damm Farm,
within a few feet of a burrow that was used at least part of the time
by a striped skunk. The condition of the turtles suggested that they
had lain in the open for several weeks. The heads and legs were
missing from most of the turtles and tooth marks were discernible on
several of the shells. A logical explanation of this occurrence is
that the turtles, using the burrow as a hibernaculum, were ousted by a
predator that also inhabited the burrow. Turtles moving about
sporadically in late autumn may be quickly chilled by a sudden drop in
temperature and therefore be more susceptible to predation than at
other times of the year. Two of my colleagues at the Museum of Natural
History informed me that they had observed similar concentrations of
dead _T. ornata_ in winter.
In July, 1952, H. B. Tordoff collected eight shells of juvenile _T.
ornata_ in a dry creek bed near Sharon, Barber County, Kansas. Some of
the shells had small tooth-punctures. The stream bed habitat and the
appearance of the tooth punctures tended to incriminate raccoons as
predators. Raccoons, more than any other carnivore mentioned above,
possess the manual dexterity necessary to pry open the shell of a box
turtle and bite away the soft parts. Badgers and possibly coyotes are
probably the only local carnivores (excluding large dogs) that could
crack open the shell of an adult turtle by sheer force.
Adults of _T. ornata_, since they occasionally molest small juveniles,
must be considered in the category of predators. When captive adults
and juveniles were fed from the same container in the laboratory, the
turtles occasionally bit one another accidently. Serious injury to the
young was prevented by watching the adults closely and moving them
away when they caught a smaller turtle by the leg or head. Similar
accidents presumably occur in nature; juveniles and adults were
sometimes found feeding side by side. William R. Brecheisen told me
that adults kept in a stock tank at his farm in the summer of 1955
regularly and purposefully chased and bit small juveniles in the same
tank. Brecheisen gave me a juvenile that had been so bitten; the right
side of its head was badly damaged (the eye gone and a portion of the
bony orbit broken) but was partly healed. Ralph J. Donahue told me
that he saw an adult _T. ornata_ attack a juvenal _T. carolina_, and
provided a photograph of the incident. The juvenile was not injured.
Although small box turtles may occasionally be caught and killed by
adults in nature, this seems not to constitute a major source of
predation on the young.
Other animals that may prey upon young box turtles occasionally (and
that were known to occur at the Damm Farm) are bullsnakes (_Pituophis
catenifer_), red-tailed hawks (_Buteo jamaicensis_), marsh hawks
(_Circus cyaneus_), crows (_Corvus brachyrhynchos_), and opossums
(_Didelphis marsupialis_), and domestic cats.
Nest predators probably have greater effect on populations of _T.
ornata_ than do predators of hatchlings, juveniles, and adults. Four
robbed nests were found at the Damm Farm; in each instance, striped
skunks were thought to be the predators. E. H. Taylor told me that he
once saw a bullsnake swallow an entire clutch of newly laid eggs
before the female turtle could cover the nest.