On Tuesday, April 19th my Herpetology lab drove to Donnelly Wildlife Management Area located just outside Edisto Beach, SC. The weather was hot, the bugs were on a mission, and walking through grassy terrain and down dirt roads that seemed to go on for miles in hip waders was not exactly how I envisioned spending my afternoon. My attitude changed drastically though as I stepped into the backwater swamps, immediately cooling down amongst layers of plant life. While the majority of the field trips have been a struggle for me as far as catching things, I figured the final trip would prove different and boy did it! Cricket frogs were out in numbers, jumping from lily pad to lily pad, in and out of grass blades and through muddy waters. It wasn’t until later when a few of my classmates and I checked turtle traps did we come across some of the largest turtles I’d ever seen. These female Yellowbelly Sliders (Trachemys scripta) weighed at least 12 pounds, large in size and aggressive in nature. Their large shells and beautifully colored bodies stood out amongst the black waters of the swamps making them absolutely breathtaking animals. We made jokes about putting our fingers in their mouths to see just how hard that keratin beak would feel crushing down onto our fingers but quickly decided against that once we saw just how aggressive they were being towards us (not the brightest idea!) Interestingly enough, this turtle species is a common household pet with research demonstrating that life span is up to 40 years in captivity! To think that an animal could possibly outlive me is crazy. Another fascinating aspect of these turtles capture was how intelligent they were—at least more intelligent than I would have originally thought. In order to see if the turtles would bite we tried to put pieces of grass in their mouths, a huge fail considering they didn’t even move. When I went to let the particular turtle I was holding back into the water, she slid onto the side of an embankment causing everyone to “aww” and say “she doesn’t understand where to go.” Yeah right! After a mere couple of seconds of realizing that she was actually free, she slid right into the cold water making the perfect exit.
(Samantha Reeves, Charleston SC)