The wood turtle reaches a straight carapace length of 14 to 20 centimeters (5.5 to 7.9 in), its defining characteristic being the pyramidal shape of the scutes on its upper shell.

The wood turtle exists in a broad geographic range extending from Nova Scotia in the north (and east) to Minnesota in the west and Virginia in the south.

It spends a great deal of time in or near the water of wide rivers, preferring shallow, clear streams with compacted and sandy bottoms.

Inadvertently, humans cause many deaths through habitat destruction, road traffic, farming accidents, and illegal collection.

This turtle species inhabits aquatic and terrestrial areas of North America, primarily the northeast of the United States and parts of Canada.

[5] Wood turtle populations are under high conservation concerns due to human interference of natural habitats.

Habitat destruction and fragmentation can negatively impact the ability for wood turtles to search for suitable mates and build high quality nests.

The ventral surfaces of the neck, chin, and legs are orange to red with faint yellow stripes along the lower jaw of some individuals.

[13] The wood turtle is found in most New England states, Nova Scotia, west to Michigan, northern Indiana and Minnesota,[8] and south to Virginia.

Spring to summer is spent in open areas including forests, fields, bogs, wet meadows, and beaver ponds.

Remains from the Rancholabrean period (300,000 to 11,000 years ago) have been found in states such as Georgia and Tennessee, both of which are well south of their current range.

[8] After the receding of the ice, wood turtle colonies were able to re-inhabit their customary northern range[16] (areas like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia).

[4] At night, its average body temperature drops to between 15 and 20 °C (59 and 68 °F)[20] and it will rest in small creeks or nearby land (usually in areas containing some sort of underbrush or grass).

In the wild, the submissive turtle is either forced to flee, or is bombarded with physical abuses, which include biting, shoving, and ramming.

Also, wood turtles consume specific fungi (Amanita muscaria and Leccinum arcolatum), mosses, grasses, various insects, and also carrion.

[24] When hunting, the wood turtle pokes its head into such areas as dead and decaying logs, the bottoms of bushes, and in other vegetation.

Several animals that often target wood turtle eggs are the common raven and coyote, which may completely destroy the nests they encounter.

Evidence of predatory attacks (wounds to the skin and such) are common on individuals, but the northern populations tend to display more scarring than the southern ones.

Its mental capacity for directional movement was discovered after the completion of an experiment that involved an individual finding food in a maze.

One male wood turtle was displaced 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mi) after being captured, and within five weeks, it returned to the original location.

[22] The wood turtle takes a long time to reach sexual maturity, has a low fecundity (ability to reproduce), but has a high adult survival rate.

Nesting areas receive ample sunlight, contain soft soil, are free from flooding, and are devoid of rocks and disruptively large vegetation.

[28] Female wood turtles in general lay one clutch per year and tend to congregate around optimal nesting areas.

These fights involve aggressive behaviors such as biting or chasing one another, and the males defend themselves by retreating their heads into their hard shells.

[34] For proper protection of the wood turtle, in-depth land surveys of its habitat to establish population numbers are needed.

[35] One emerging solution to the highway mortality problem, which primarily affects nesting females,[14] is the construction of under-road channels.

[7] Brochures and other media that warn people to avoid keeping the wood turtle as a pet are currently being distributed.

[36] While considered nationally as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), the wood turtle is listed as vulnerable within the province of Nova Scotia under the Species at Risk Act.

The species is highly susceptible to human land use activities, and special management practices for woodlands, rivers and farmland areas as well as motor vehicle use restrictions and general disruption protection during critical times such as nesting and movement to overwintering habitat is closely monitored.

[37] Since 2012, the Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP) has provided research and stewardship for this species including the identification of crucial habitats, distribution and movement estimation, and outreach.