We were standing on a deck to catch critters in a POND. Our first critters were 2 small fish. Then, we saw the water bubbling SO much. It was a baby turtle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were were waiting for the best chance to catch it. We spotted the best chance to catch it gently. And we got it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was smaller than my thumb! So cute!
You can COUNT the age of a painted turtles! the rings are on the belly as shown on the image above. The first ring is counted as zero because the turtle was born with it. The other rings are counted as : 1,2,3,4 and five. So, our turtle would be only one year old… if it were a painted turtle.
But it is not. It is a pond slider (Trachemys scripta). Pond sliders have black rings on yellow plastron (the lower part), but painted turtles have red plastron with green and black curves. It is much harder to tell the age of the pond slider. But it is so small, it is clear it is a baby.
These turtles can hide in their shell completely. They hibernate in winter, holding their breath for ONE WINTER! When they are eggs, colder temperatures produce males, and hotter temperatures produce females. So usually all baby turtles are either brothers or sisters! They can live up to 40 years.
We let the little guy go. (I think it is a male because it has a long tail.)
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