Northern Red-bellied Cooter in the Springtime Sun
If you're an ectotherm (AKA cold blooded [1]) like this Northern Red-bellied Cooter , nothing warms your heart like the sun. By late May (I'd imagine) all turtles are out of brumation , but temperatures may still be cool, inspiring turtles to warm themselves in the sun quite often [2]. I'm thinking this individual is a female since the plastron looks way more orange than pink . (Yes, in this case pink is for boys.) May 25, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 292818095, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] It sounds like actual scientists don't use warm blooded and cold blooded since there are also mesotherms that regulate body temperature a little bit between ectotherms and endotherms . [2] Unfortunately, as eager as they might be to sun themselves, they're still more than willing to dive in the water if you attempt to take their picture.