Sunday, July 6, 2014

Eastern Painted Turtle

 
 
 
We like to look out for the turtles at Alexander Lake at Panola Mountain State Park.  Richard took a photo of the one above on one of our recent walks there.  It is an Eastern Painted turtle and is the most common turtle in North America.  If you live anywhere near water, you might find one in your own front yard...look what Richard found in our yard when he was cutting the grass later on the very same day!
Isn't she a beauty?  I believe that she is a female because from what I have read about the Eastern Painted turtle, they pretty much stay near the water, unless they come up onto land to lay their eggs.  This one had to be removed for its own safety. 

You can see how big this turtle is by comparing it to Richard's carefully gloved hand!  Funny thing, I have seen other photos of this turtle and I can safely say that this creature was just amazing to see, the photos just don't compare to the real thing.  What about you?  Have you found something in your yard or garden recently that just stopped you in your tracks?  Don't just retreat into your shell, do tell me about it!

42 comments:

  1. Well, there's nothing in my "yard" now that I live in high-rise but at My Rare One's house there are 2 wild baby bunnies living in the hedge!

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    1. Hey Debra!
      I pay attention to all wildlife, even beside the road and in parking lots! If you see a turtle trying to cross the road, you can always go ahead and help the creature, just make sure you take him in the direction he is already headed! Baby bunnies are adorable, we had some under our day-lilies in our back yard, they are so cute!

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  2. I have seen turtles on the roads before near water. I do not bother them, not sure what kind they are. xoxo, Susie

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    1. More than likely, they are the Eastern painted turtle! Look at me, I have read a bit and now I am an expert! LOL! xxx

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  3. My flower garden never ceases to amaze me. One flower fades and another starts blooming. I haven't found any turtles at all but the one you found is beautiful! Nature is full of blessings every day!

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    1. We don't usually see turtles like this, not in our yard and not this close!! It was a blessing to see this turtle, we were glad we could help her.

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  4. Sad to say, no turtles here.
    We have tons of bunnies. Even though I see them everyday, I still stop in my tracks and enjoy them. And I love the occasional coyote spotting.

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    1. We have bunnies too! And we also like to see them. We used to have them come under our gate but we haven't seen them in our yard lately, we see them all the time at Panola Mountain State Park on our walks there!

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  5. We sit in the middle of 10-acres and see it all. :) Some sweet and some not so sweet. We have deer, turtles, snakes, foxes, rabbits. raccoons, the occasional skunk and neighborhood dogs to keep us company. It's always an adventure.

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    1. Oh hello there! Thanks so much for commenting here!
      Skunks! When I lived in South Georgia, we would come home and know that a skunk had visited the yard. Nothing else smells like a skunk, nothing!

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  6. Richard is smart for using gloves. I am the designated turtle and snake remover here, and those turtles are quick to pee when picked up--something I learned by experience.

    Anything in our backyard runs when our yellow buffalo dog is on patrol. My job is usually pretty easy.

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    1. Hey, Richard is smart, he married me, didn't he? HA!
      I think Richard was thinking of those sharp claws but now he knows that bodily fluids are also something to watch out for!!

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  7. We run across a lot of turtles and frogs in back of our home because it's a green space with a creek running through it. But I've never seen one of these creatures in our backyard. But we do have rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks and an assortment of birds living in the yard or dropping by to visit. But the most interesting sight so far has been a garter snake! I'm not afraid of them, so I was great to see one; they are very beneficial to a garden!

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    1. Oh, I love all your wildlife that you photograph, Martha, I think they must all come to you since you show them all in such a good light! :-)

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  8. Years ago, I my husband and I were having breakfast in the kitchen when I spotted something in the yard - a small "clump" moving. You've guessed it already, of course: it was a turtle! I ran downstairs (not that there was any danger of the turtle skipping away) and carefully took it upstairs with me, away from the road where it most certainly would have been run over very soon.
    When I was a kid, I'd had a turtle named Martina, and so I remembered what to do (and of course checked the internet, too). I provided the turtle with all things necessary and then went on the search for its owner. I rang so many doorbells that day, but nobody could tell me anything.
    Eventually, the kind ladies at a nearby hairdresser's allowed me to put up a sign in their window, and two days later, the owner rang and then came to collect her turtle. She told me that this had not been the first time the turtle went on such an adventure, but never so far before (they lived two roads down from me).
    The funny thing was how our cat reacted to the turtle in our living room: she understood this was too big and too slow for prey, but not big or fast enough to be considered a threat, or a playmate, but still interesting. She could not understand why the turtle was able to eat the green stuff I put on the floor for it, and she - the cat - couldn't!
    I've never seen the turtle again and hope the owners finally managed to build a safer home for it, where it could not dig itself out anymore.

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    1. Yay! Now we can add one more thing to your long list of talents: turtle rescuer!! Schildkroete....is that the German for turtle? Richard thinks that is it!
      Thanks for telling me this story!

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    2. Richard is right, it is Schildkröte, which literally means "shielded toad", or "toad carrying a shield".

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    3. Oh, I like the imagery of those words, I will think of that everytime I see a turtle! :-)

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  9. That takes me back Kay. I used to have a pet tortoise in my garden as a youngster until it escaped then was found a month later miles away. It survived two mild winters but not the third colder one. We had red eared terrapins at school too in a large aquarium tank which I looked after in a time when catching wild animals for domestic use was still allowed. Like your turtle. With the thick gloves on show I take it they bite, like snappers? I also had a hamster that sunk its teeth into fingers and hands every chance it got. That was one mean rodent!

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    1. No, this was not a snapping turtle. If it had been, Richard would not have attempted to pick it up! This turtle had some good claws though, and any animal can bite when they are frightened, so always best to wear gloves, we think so anyway! You think of hamsters of being sweet and cuddly, you sound like you have my kind of luck! :-)

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  10. We get those very pretty turtles around here, too. Sometimes we have to help them cross the highway, which is always an adventure!

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    1. Oh good, someone else who helps them across a street. Of course, you would, you are a helper to animals!!

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  11. We have a load of these that live in the lagoon in the backyard that my husband feeds. We found one on our front lawn today too and agree with you, they're out to lay eggs.

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    1. Thanks for telling me that! I really didn't know for sure, but that is what it sounded like to me, some egg laying business was being attempted!!

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  12. The turtles of my youth lived on the Feather River, over a mile away, so they didn't come into our yard. But there were (and are) tree frogs, which are lots of fun.

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    1. Oh yes, we have frogs too. The tree frog likes to get on our cereus cactus, it is over 6 feet tall now! (The cactus, not the tree frog!!)

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  13. We haven't had a turtle around here for some time. Though after heavy rain they do sometimes wash up in unexpected places. I just love them! When I was a kid, I didn't realize that their shell was part of their body. I thought it was more like a hermit crab's house.

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    1. Yes, the shell is really part of their skeleton, they are fascinating creatures, and we were thrilled to see one like this one so up-close!
      Thanks for your comment, so good to hear from you!

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  14. I do love these turtles. I see them in the National Park lined up on logs that span to the river from the bank....But what I saw in my own yard two days ago was a turkey vulture eating something dead far back in the yard....I've never seen one here before. there is an amazing amount of wild life around here: ground hogs, skunks, moles, voles, rabbits, squirrels, all manner of birds and butterflies and deer.........We're over run! But I am happy that there is so much life!

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    1. Yes! We see the same turtles lined up on logs that are partially in the lake at Panola Mountain! And we also see turkey vultures there, and also black vultures too. (The black vultures flap their wings more and have more white on on their wing tips...otherwise, they look similar.) We have lots of wildlife too, including lots of deer, they like to eat quite a bit from our front yard!

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  15. Yes, and I've seen a fox a few times now, and not far down the road Coyotes.

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    1. We also have foxes and coyotes. One of the most amazing things, on one of our walks at Panola Mountain, I saw some droppings on the trail that I knew wasn't from a dog, and when I pointed this out, the guide, PICKED It up and starting looking through the scat (it was quite dry) and told us it was from a coyote. Man, this nature stuff is interesting to me! But I am not going to pick up droppings from animals!! :-)

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  16. Wow, turtles in your garden! Nothing quite so exotic here in Lancashire. The most exciting things have been a sparrowhawk who uses my lawn as a dining table and a lime hawk-moth. Mind you, I get just as excited seeing our local cats. x

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    1. Oh, I love everything in nature, truly I do! You should put "Hercules beetle" as a search in my blog, I wrote about it in the early days of my postings, and saw that one at the parking lot where I work!!

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  17. This is so weird! Not the turtle....just the subject of turtles. We were talking about them in surgery today. One of our Docs went to Georgia last week on vacation and she went to a turtle rescue place. Then one of the other Docs told us about the ones in their pond. Then I had to throw a turtle story I had....The first Doc even had a very pretty turtle necklace on...see...weird! I did find a strange, dead animal while mowing...couldn't even tell what it was...weird again!

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    1. Yes, how funny!
      It was lucky that Richard saw this turtle before he began cutting the grass (or weeds mostly!)

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  18. Magnificent blog, with extraordinary photo, perfect and processed to provide a great beauty.

    Regards!

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    1. Goodness, thank you so much! My husband takes most of the photos on my blog, I think he is very good. Thanks for your visit, please stop by again!

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  19. Beautiful, beautiful photos! I love to go canoeing in Kejimkujik National Park because of the pretty Blanding's turtles. :-)

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    1. Thank you! I just looked at your blog! And what lovely part of the world you are in! I love your post about camping, it reminds me of spending time with my son when he was in the Boy Scouts!

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  20. Aren't they the sweetest little things...I love them. :)

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    1. Amazing creatures, they truly are, glad that I could get a couple of photos of the one that visited our yard (or large weedy patch, really...that might be why the turtle wanted to lay eggs there!)

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