I have been hoping to get the chance to help a turtle across the road this spring. The other day, I thought I had a chance, but the turtle was already gone by the time I turned the car around.
This morning I encountered this not-so-little guy crossing one of the streets in our subdivision. And though our subdivision is fairly quiet and people don't really speed, I hopped out and gave her/him a lift to the other side of the street. And the girls were yelling for me to show them, so I only got one picture...made me nervous dancing around in the middle of the street with a turtle and a camera.
When we got home, I looked up what kind of turtle it was.
Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Here is the little green trutle that has been sold by the thousands in pet and variety stores. Perhaps the most distinctive marking is the broad reddish patch behind each eye. In rare instances, the red is replaced by yellow.
Although these turtles are common in areas far south of Ohio, isolated communities have been discovered in some northern states. Whether released captives or remnants of an ancient population from a warmer age, they manage to hold their own. Two such colonies of red-eared sliders have been reported in Ross and Pickaway counties.
7 comments:
So glad you rescued him/her!
I am still chuckling over the mental image of you out there with your camera, the turtle and the cheering section :)
One of our neightbors was watching the whole thing and looking at me like I was nuts.
I don't go looking for hilarity...it finds ME.
Good work! First Bill of the Birds and Julie Zickefoose, and now you saving turtles. I stopped traffic on a local street last week to pick up a medium-large snapping turtle heading back to the pond, I assume, after laying her eggs. I am happy to report the drivers who had to wait didn't seem to mind at all.
Mojoman: You're a brave man to pick up a snapping turtle! Still have all your fingers?
Mu husband says you can safely pick them up by their tails - don't know if that's true or not?
I read today that you can, but you have to be careful not to damage their spines.
Yep, all fingers still here. Almost lost one on a table saw once, but that's another story.
This snapper had a shell about 14" long and I just grabbed her by the back edge of the shell with two hands. She was so intent on getting across the street and back to the pond that she never even looked back at me. She must have thought she was morphing into a bird as I carried her in the direction she was pointing.
I hope I'm passing by in the fall when her babies hatch out and make the same trip.
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