Turtles are freshwater, marine, and terrestrial vertebrates with a shell. There are about 300 living species worldwide in 12 families and about 89 genera. Of these, eight species are marine, 49 are land, and about 250 are freshwater to semiaquatic.

Of the many wildlife management practices the private landowner can do, few are as rewarding as those which favor wood ducks. Wood ducks and a multitude of other wildlife species respond readily to managed wetlands.