Why this study of box turtles will plod along, slow and steady, for 100 years

When Ann Berry Somers was 7 years old and growing up in North Carolina, she encountered a box turtle on a path. She picked up the small reptile and looked into its eyes. Instead of retreating into its shell, the turtle gazed back. It felt like she and the turtle were sharing a moment of connection.

"I was just mesmerized by the fact that there was this beautiful creature that allowed me to touch them," she says. "I was so full of amazement and gratitude for that experience that it stuck with me."

A half-dozen subspecies of box turtles make their homes across much of the U.S., from Maine down to Florida and westward out to Colorado. With their bright eyes, colorful carapaces and calm demeanor, these wrinkled denizens of the forest have historically provided E. T.-type experiences to children exploring back yards, forests and other green spaces. But some turtle fans, like Somers, worry that those special moments are becoming increasingly rare.

Now 70 and retired from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, she's still highly attuned to box turtles, like a battered one she recently spotted near her driveway. This particular adult male had lost a few toes on one foot, maybe to a hungry raccoon, and had a beat-up shell. But the shell's edge had a set of unique identifying notches – marks that identified this turtle as part of an