Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA); Endangered (SARA; COSEWIC)

Size: 22 cm (8.5 ”)

Defining feature(s): Wood turtles have a scutes on the carapace with a carved (sculpted) woody appearance.  The head and limbs are brown and the skin may be reddish or orange.

Other features: Wood turtles have a yellow or orange plastron with large black patches toward the outer edges of the scutes.

Habitat: Wood turtles are the most terrestrial of Ontario species.  They spend a significant portion of the summer months out of the water in meadows, forests, fields and alder thickets.  Their core habitat usually includes streams and rivers with sandy or partially rocky bottoms.  Adults are known to move much farther from water during the summer when compared to juveniles.

Reproduction: Mating occurs in the spring and fall when males and females are in close proximity after hibernation or prior to beginning hibernation.  Clutches of 3 to as many as 18 eggs are laid in late May or June.  Hatchlings emerge from the nest in August or early September after an incubation of 50 to 70 days.