northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a River Cooter along the Delaware Raritan Canal last May. I'm going to try and explain how I arrived at this identification. Despite living in New Jersey, they're not documented in my Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Jersey [1], so I went to the internet for some basic information . Here's what I can tell you: The plastron is yellow, not reddish-orange (female) or pink (male) that you would expect to see in a Northern Red-bellied Cooter . Also, Northern Red-bellied Cooters frequently have jet black heads and necks, while this turtle has noticeable yellow there. The carapace lacks the prominent lines around the scutes that you'd see in a Painted Turtle . It also lacks the rich tapestry of lines on the head/neck that you'd see in a Common Map Turtle . A Red-eared Slider normally has a prominent red blotch about where you'd expect an ear to be, and a Yellow-bellied Slider should have a prominent yellow blotch in that same spot. I also thi...

This Pond Slider is determined to get to the top, and it doesn't care who it has to step on to get there. In this case it's climbing on the back of a Northern Red-bellied Cooter . Though I've seen other species of turtle do this climbing thing, Pond Sliders have some reputation for being aggressive (or at least obnoxious). There are 2 subspecies of Pond Slider here in New Jersey and it's a little difficult to tell which 1 this is: Usually the Red-eared Slider has a pretty obvious red mark on its ear [1]. This picture is a little inconclusive though, with what I think is a slightly reddish tint blending in with the dark head.  The Yellow-bellied Slider lacks the red "ear", which I initially thought was the case for this turtle. They're also supposed to have wide yellow stripes on the side part of their plastron; this turtle looks to have fairly thin yellow stripes instead. My field guide suggests that there are a small number of Red-eared Sliders withou...

I read today that there is some sexual dimorphism among our Northern Red-bellied Cooters . Though in many of our turtles the females tend to be larger, in Northern Red-bellied Cooters the difference isn't great; a large male and a medium-sized female are probably going to be about the same size, and unless you see turtles pretty close up, judging subtle size differences can be error prone. But this article suggests that it's the females that have the distinctive reddish-orange plastrons while the plastrons of the males tends to be pinkish. And my field guide says that while the sides of the females look striped, the sides of the males look more mottled. That's why I'm suspicious that the 1st turtle below is a female and that the 2nd turtle picture is of a male (with a friend). Bright orange plastron + stripey side = Female March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267710927, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The presumed male Northern Red-bel...

I have to admit my title is a little presumptuous. Turtles definitely get together for breeding (though these 2 almost certainly won't) but other than that they're considered solitary without forming actual friendships. Their tendency to be seen in groups is probably better explained by: There are only so many good basking locations in an area, so they're kind of forced to congregate at these locations. Similar to mixed-species flocks of birds, they're probably safer in a crowd where many eyes/ears have the potential to detect a predator. Even if they're not BFFs, this Pond Slider and Painted Turtle are at least tolerant of each other, suggesting more civility that you see amongst other groups (like the US political system). And although this picture is from last October, I'm seeing more and more turtles out as the NJ winter wanes. As long as you're willing to keep a respectful distance, you could probably meet a turtle around here today. October 11, 2022 ...

Most of the slider turtles I see in my area are the subspecies of Red-eared Slider . This is a turtle that usually - but not always - has a red blotch about where you'd expect an ear to be [1]. This particular turtle does have some red in this area, but it blends in with some yellow too. This might be a turtle with both Red-eared Slider and Yellow-bellied Slider  [2] heritage. Since both those turtles are subspecies of the Pond Slider , I'm inclined to identify it at the species level. Though both the Red-eared Slider and the Yellow-bellied Slider are native to the US (and for the former, Mexico too), neither is native to New Jersey. Both subspecies are in NJ today because they're fairly popular pet turtles. Since they're both the same species, it's not surprising that they interbreed pretty happily when they meet here. September 1, 2022 at Duke Island Park Photo 238904480, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Though most turtles hear pretty well, the...

In July I spotted this Red-eared Slider walking around. As I've discussed before , Red-eared Sliders are a subspecies of Pond Slider , and with a name like that you generally see them in, on, or adjacent to water. So what's the turtle doing out of the water? Well, I can't rule out that the turtle simply felt it needed to find a better habitat. If a body of water gets polluted, or is drying out, or is simply too crowded, some intrepid turtles will look for a better place to live, even if it means journeying on land. Having said that, there is another time when female turtles absolutely need to leave the water. All turtles, even ones that will spend most of their lives in the water, need to lay eggs on land. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's going on here. I considered following the turtle, though it's possible that a turtle looking to lay eggs would not do so if I were around. This is the 2nd time that I suspect I met a future mom Red-eared Slider . J...

Let's show another commonly seen turtle around here: the Red-eared Slider . Most of the time this "species" can be reliably identified by ... (wait for it) ... their red "ear". Why the quotes? First, the Red-eared Slider isn't a species in its own right but is a subspecies of the Pond Slider . Second, the Pond Sliders don't have external ears, red or any other color, though the red mark is about where you'd expect an ear to be if they had external ears. There is another Pond Slider subspecies, the Yellow-bellied Slider , that I'm told is in NJ too, though I can't authoritatively say I've seen one. These turtles are popular as pets, and pets that have escaped or been released are the main reason the Red-eared Slider is an invasive animal in many parts of the US and other parts of the world. Their popularity peaked when it was revealed that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were Red-eared Sliders. As an invasive species they potentially imp...