Common Map Turtle Comradery?

Here's a few Common Map Turtles from last spring. In the 1st picture it sort of looked like the turtle on the right was trying to put an arm [1] around its companion in an expression of comradery. While we don't know a lot about the social lives of turtles, it's possible that (like snakes) they may develop relationships of trust and/or comfortable familiarity with some other turtles. Still, it's probably more likely that the turtle had more selfish motivations:

  1. "I was hoping to climb up onto his back to catch some rays."
  2. Or, "I really wanted that spot on the branch, and hoped I could push him off of it."

When I go turtle-watching, I do try and spot our map turtles [2], but I rarely manage to do so. I'm told they're 1 of our more skittish turtles, so maybe a lot of the turtles that jump in the water before I can get a look at them were actually map turtles. Similar to my Eastern Musk Turtle pictures posted yesterday, it's possible that I'm mostly going to get pictures of them early in the season, when the desire to bask in the sun may be strongest [3].

May 10, 2023 at Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282314757, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

May 10, 2023 at Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282314975, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] Technically that arm is more like a front leg.

[2] The "contour map" lines on the head and neck can look like an Eastern Painted Turtle from a distance, but look fairly distinctive closer up.

[3] If you spent your winter "sleeping" at the bottom of a cold pond, you too might be very motivated to enjoy the sunlight of a spring day.

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