On Tuesday, April 19, 2011, my herpetology class went to explore Donnelly Wildlife Management Area. Our professor, Dr. Welch along with our TA Keith, had put out turtle traps for us to see if we could catch any turtles on our field trip. After lifting a turtle trap out of a wetland area, we found some massive yellowbelly sliders (Tracchemys scripta) in them. This particular one we found, we determined that it was a female due to its large body size (about 13 inches long) and did not have very long claws. These turtles are both land and water turtles. You can tell that it is a yellowbelly slider by its plastron being all yellow, they have distinct black circle spots on the underside around the outer borders of their shell, patterned scutes, carapace was blackish or brown, and its skin was a dark olive with patches of yellow squiggle stripes down its neck and all four limbs. The sliders are diurnal turtles, meaning they eat in the morning and bask during the rest of the day on logs mostly, and sleep at night. (Michelle Hou, SC)
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