They Can Stay Like This for Three Hours

Maybe because I don't watch TV or hang around children I'm slow to pick up on the latest vulgarisms, but "bumpin' the uglies" was the phrase that came to mind when I happened upon this scene between Three-Toed Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina triunguis) at Babler State Park, but in fact they're creating new life and that's of course a beautiful thing, and the male's immobile expression let me know it was a quite serious and intensely personal matter and I should take my photo and move along. Spring is the time for creating and laying new turtle eggs, preferably in a hole the female digs in deep leaf litter; the warm weather helps incubate them.

Because they are territorial, with one turtle per territory, they can find each other only if their territories overlap.