Watchin' a turtle in the rough

Next to the General Store, is the popular Cottagewood "Children's Park". The centerpiece of the park is a lovely bronze sculpture of children that captures the essence of the park. One detail of the park's sculpture/fountain is a little turtle ambling across the rocks and water.


About the Box Turtle ( From tne National Zoological Web Site)
Life Span
Box turtles may live more than 100 years.

Fun Facts
When frightened, box turtles retract their head, tail, and limbs into their shell and clamp it shut. They wait in this position until the perceived threat is gone. While juveniles have several predators, very few species can prey effectively on adults due to this defense technique.

Box turtles can be dangerous to eat. At times they consume poisonous mushrooms and the toxins may linger in their flesh.

Box turtles are most famous for their hinged shell, which allows them to retract almost completely into their bony armor to hide from danger. This shell has great regenerative powers. A case was reported in which the carapace of a badly burned box turtle underwent complete regeneration.