FRANKLIN GROVE, Ill. -- Some dogs find joy in bones and treats. For John Rucker’s seven Boykin spaniels, they are excited about praise after finding ornate box turtles. “I'm the only person in the ...

Dog handler John Rucker collects an ornate box turtle that one of his six Boykin spaniels located and brought to him May 6, 2021, at the Nachusa Grasslands in Lee County. John Rucker hunts for ornate ...

JOHNSON COUNTY — In a copse of trees in Johnson County, birdsong trilled over the sound of nearby cars on Monday. In this small patch of wilderness, hidden away behind houses and businesses, John ...

MIDLAND, Texas — The transition from the winter season to the spring season brings out the desert box turtle, also known as the ornate box turtle. Ornate box turtle sightings become more common during ...

NORTH LIBERTY — John Rucker and his five “super dogs” are helping research through Coe College to measure the number of ornate box turtles in the Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area. Rucker, 74, is a ...

PONCA — Prairie and Flower may lack the physical stature of the larger reptiles living in Ponca State Park's Resource Education Center, but they now hold an elevated status over their roommates.

Certainly one of the strangest things that might catch a hiker’s eye in the Oklahoma woods is the sight of box turtles mating. The first thing that catches the eye, especially in the case of the ...

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) encourages motorists to give turtles crossing roads a brake. Turtles are struck by cars throughout warmer months, but are at special risk this time of ...

Below a clouded sky in the middle of Illinois prairie, a handsome brown spaniel dashed ahead through brambles and bobbed back up with a catch. There, resting in his jaws as his tail wagged, was a ...

That's the message Arizona Game and Fish officials want nature enthusiasts to remember. The department recently has experienced an increase in calls from people who have found ornate box turtles in ...

Arkansas is home to 16 turtle species. Only two, the three-toed box turtle and the ornate box turtle, are land dwellers. Box turtles are the only turtles in North America with a flexible hinge on ...

In a poll to determine which of the world’s turtles would take home the people’s choice award, box turtles would win in a landslide. Sea turtles captivate observers around the globe, but few people ...