Males also differ from females by possessing shorter, stockier and more curved claws on their hind feet, and longer and thicker tails.

[7] There are five living subspecies of the common box turtle, each differing slightly in appearance, namely in the colour and patterning of the carapace, and the possession of either three or four toes on each hind foot.

[8] Common box turtles are predominantly terrestrial reptiles that are often seen early in the day, or after rain, when they emerge from the shelter of rotting leaves, logs, or a mammal burrow to forage.

These turtles have an incredibly varied diet of animal and plant matter, including earthworms, snails, slugs, insects, wild berries, roots, flowers, fungi, fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, birds, eggs, and sometimes even animal carrion (in the form of dead ducks, amphibians, assorted small mammals, and even a dead cow).

[6][7][9] In the warmer summer months, common box turtles are more likely to be seen near the edges of swamps or marshlands,[6] possibly in an effort to stay cool.

[10] Courtship in the common box turtle, which usually takes place in spring, begins with a "circling, biting and shoving" phase.

[11] In May, June or July, females normally lay a clutch of 1 to 11 eggs into a flask-shaped nest excavated in a patch of sandy or loamy soil.

[1] Development brings with it an additional threat in the form of increased infrastructure, as common box turtles are frequently killed on roads and highways.

[7][8] The life history characteristics of the common box turtle (long lifespan and slow reproductive rate)[7] make it particularly vulnerable to such threats.

Conservation recommendations for the common box turtle include establishing management practices during urban developments that are sympathetic to this species, as well as further research into its life history and the monitoring of populations.

[1] "The turtle watches undisturbed as countless generations of faster 'hares' run by to quick oblivion, and is thus a model of patience for mankind, and a symbol of our State's unrelenting pursuit of great and lofty goals."

Although a sponsor of the original failed 1998 bill,[20] in 2009, Delegate Frank Hargrove, of Hanover, asked why Virginia would make an official emblem of an animal that retreats into its shell when frightened and dies by the thousands crawling across roads.