Fierce turtles square off in a rare woodland turf battle

At first, it appears that two turtles with yellow spots are calmly sitting side by side. Suddenly, one of them turns, slowly—and lunges out with its head, its open beak clearly trying to take an aggressive chomp out of its neighbor. Moments later, the turtle tries again. Now, both reptiles are going head-to-head, though each is retracted into the protection of its shell. 

The two combatants are male eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) competing for dominance. Eastern box turtles are a subspecies of the common box turtle (Terrapene carolina), with bright orange and yellow coloring on its dark shell. They live throughout the eastern and midwestern United States. 

“I wouldn’t say that they’re normally aggressive, but male box turtles can definitely become territorial, especially since males’ home ranges (the area they frequently occupy) often overlap,” Eamon Caffrey, the turtle research coordinator at Mass Audubon who captured the video, tells Popular Science. “We do occasionally see this sort of brawling behavior between two males when out in the field; you just have to get lucky enough to actually witness it. This experience was a first for me, and I was thrilled to capture it on camera.” 

Over the summer, another Mass Audubon staff member saw two male box turtles opting for a pushing contest instead of biting. At one point, one of the two flipped the other contestant onto its back and pushed him down a small hill. Box turtle battles can also feature spinning each other around.  

“From my understanding, fights between male box turtles are much more opportunistic than anything else,” Caffrey tells Popular Science. “Often, when two males come in contact, they will display a variety of aggressive behaviors that can include head butting, shell ramming, biting, pushing, and shoving – all in attempts to assert dominance. These disputes are often territorial but can be over mates as well.”

What’s more, the turtle with the darker shell is a well-known individual over 30 years old. Caffrey says he’s seen him various times this year, and since capturing the video the celebrity reptile has been spending time in an area where the Mass Audubon team frequently spot two to three adult females. However, there’s been no trace of his opponent. 

“Does that mean he ‘won’ the battle?” Caffrey muses. “Who knows.” 

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