What Kind Of Turtle Is This?

[Brody]

Turtle

I found a turtle in my back yard, and I've never seen one like it. It was kind of small. Its mouth(beak?) is white, and has piercing red-orange eyes. I took a few pictures of it with my digital camera. I have a couple more pictures of different angles if needed. I live in southern Missouri.

[Brinton]

Hi Shane,

It's a box turtle, and looks like a 3-toed(Terrapene carolina triunguis).  If you turn it over, you'll notice a "hinge" in the plastron that allows it to close its shell.  It looks like the white area is scarring from an old injury or disease.  3-toed box turtles are native to your area, so the best thing you can do is to release it where found, as they have been severely impacted in the wild due to collection for the pet trade.  The wild populations need every adult to sustain the species for the future.    http://aboxturtle.com/threetoed.htmhttp://www.chelonia.org/terrapenegallery.htm