The pictures of our little adventure from yesterday do not appear to be available just yet, so I'll make due with this one.
Yesterday was April 29 and we set about trying to trap turtles. Wasn't exactly the most successful day but we did get two male midland painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) out of Bachelor Pond. They were less than enthusiastic about being handled as shown by their excessive flailing to get away but they were docile enough not to try and eat our fingers like the snapping turtle did from an earlier expedition.
I actually have one of these as a pet that my dad found when someone tried to toss it. It was around the size of a quarter when I got it and now it's as big as my hand. I've been familiar with the species for awhile.
The midland painted turtle is an inhabitant of slow moving water that has a thick layer of mud. As you can see they are brightly marked thus earning their name and they have a shell that can range from 3.5 up to 10in long. Males reach maturity between 3 and 5 years of age while females take 6 to 10 years to fully mature. Sex of offspring is determined by temperature. The breeding season starts in late spring and continues through early summer. They are diurnal and will bask on logs periodically to regulate temperature and to deter some parasites like leeches(one of which we found crawling on one of the turtles, by the way). They eat plants, small animals, and carrion. They are mostly carnivorous while young but adapting more to a plant based diet as they age.
These turtles may live up to 40 years but average lifespan is 30.
Cool animals.
(Shaun Delph)
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