Well after looking around a little on the web I discovered that there is a little nature trail to a lake with an observation dock very close to my house. So Moira and I headed out to take a look. It was a little after 1:00 so the birds were all taking a rest in the shade, but some turtles were taking advantage of the warm sunshine .
Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta
These guys are pretty unimpressive from the top, but their undersides have bright red and yellow patterns which give them their name.
Red eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans (invasive species)
3 comments:
Nice turtle pics! I don't think I've ever seen a wild turtle in WA. Didn't even know we had any... I guess I haven't been hanging out in the right places or something.
I've never seen a turtle in Western Washington either. You say that the one is an invasive species, does that imply that the other is native?
the painted turtle and the western pond turtle are both native. Despite the name the western pond turtle is usually found in slow moving rivers. The red eared sliders are found throughout the US as a result of people throwing unwanted pets out into the environment.
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