70-year-old box turtle reappears on Pennsylvania farm

An old turtle has been hanging around a Dauphin County farm for about 50 years.

The eastern box turtle was probably about 20 years old, based on shell size at the time, when it was found on the farm in 1967 by a brother and sister, reports PennLive.

That makes it about 72 years old.

The pair recognized the turtle last week by a mark they put on the shell back in 1967, reports PennLive.

Box turtles often live 30-40 years in the wild with some believed to be more than 100-years-old.

PennLive reports that a turtle found in 2015 in Centre County appears to have been more than 150-years-old, based on the year 1878 carved into its shell.

Although carving a turtle’s shell was considered harmless mischief in the past, and helps determine age, the practice is discouraged as we now know that it causes pain to the animal.

The man who recently found the box turtle he marked in 1967 regrets having done it.

“When we were kids we would do something I would not recommend doing now,” he told PennLive.

Learn more about box turtles at PennLive.