Preparing for the Chill: Supporting Native Turtles this Fall

A box turtle is seen at Truxtun Park in Annapolis, Md., on May 29, 2020. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)

As autumn arrives across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, plants and animals prepare for the colder months ahead. Many different species have different ways of preparing for the cooler temperatures and fewer hours of sunlight. These adaptive behaviors may look like eating more food to build up a fat storage, growing a thicker coat, or migrating to warmer climates for the season. For some native reptiles like the Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) and the Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), preparation for colder months looks a little different. These incredible species rely on the region’s diverse habitats, from forests to coastal shorelines, to feed, nest, and find shelter as temperatures begin to drop.

Similar to hibernation in mammals, brumation is what reptiles and amphibians undergo to conserve energy, typically during the winter months. Herpetofauna are ectothermic and depend on external environmental conditions such as sunlight and air temperature to regulate their body temperature. As winter approaches and sunlight decreases, reptiles will lower their activity levels. Compared to hibernating mammals, which remain in a metabolic torpor until spring and rely on stored fat reserves, reptiles’ metabolic rates slow significantly, reducing their need for food and oxygen. Brumating reptiles may wake up occasionally to move around or search for water. They will seek sheltered spots like burrows, crevices, under rocks to stay protected during this vulnerable time.

An eastern box turtle resides at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, Va., on Dec. 18, 2018. (Photo by Joan Smedinghoff/Chesapeake Bay Program)

Eastern box turtles typically occupy a small but defined home range, often 230 meters or less in diameter, containing different habitats and food sources. Home ranges frequently overlap among individuals of various ages and sexes. The Eastern box turtle will often dig burrows or bury themselves deep with soft leaf litter.

Diamondback terrapins have specialized glands similar to sea turtles that secrete high-salinity tears, removing excess sodium chloride from their bodies. They settle into the muddy bottoms of coastal estuaries and creeks to escape the freezing temperatures. Occasionally, hatchlings that hatch later in the season will remain in their underground nests over the winter, digging their way out of the sandy soil the following spring. This behavior likely explains the young diamondback terrapin that volunteers planting a living shoreline observed on Tilghman Island, Maryland, in April 2026.

A young Diamondback terrapin makes its way across a living shoreline on Tilghman Island, MD.

You can easily support wildlife this fall by leaving the falling leaves on the ground, or raking them into garden beds or around trees. It is not only beneficial for soil health, your lawn, and ground dwelling insects, but also for Eastern box turtles who burrow underground under leaf litter. Meanwhile, Diamondback terrapins burrow deep into tidal creeks for the fall and winter. You can help protect them through participating in stream cleanups and driving carefully on roads that are near estuaries and coastal creeks, as terrapins tend to relocate to muddy-bottomed creeks for the winter.

Healthy shorelines, wetlands, and forest habitats are essential during this time offering deep leaf litter, soft soil, and muddy estuary bottoms where turtles slow down until spring. The Alliance’s Ecological Restoration initiative efforts like the Trossbach Farm Living Shoreline project help to restore and preserve the native marsh and aquatic habitat that supports a wide range of native Chesapeake wildlife. Or, through programs like Healthy Forests, Healthy Waters, the Alliance partners with private landowners to plant trees in Maryland. Participants commit to conserving and maintaining these new habitats for a decade, creating new habitat for native wildlife. Through living shoreline, wetland restoration, and forests projects the Alliance works to ensure that these vital habitats continue to provide resources for native wildlife throughout the year.

Support the Alliance’s restoration efforts