Back Cover

What is it?

Our photographers have been busy exploring the intricacies of the Missouri outdoors. See if you can guess this month’s natural wonder. The answer is revealed below.

Three-toed box turtle

On the back cover and right is a three-toed box turtle by Noppadol Paothong. A common, small, terrestrial turtle with a highdomed shell and normally three toes on each hind limb. In Missouri most egg-laying takes place from mid-May to early July. The baby turtles hatch in about three months, but eggs laid late in the summer will not hatch until the following spring. Female box turtles have the ability to store viable sperm and produce fertilized eggs up to four years after mating. MissouriConservation.org.