Grabbing a Bit of Sunshine - Painted Turtle
by Carol Senske
Title
Grabbing a Bit of Sunshine - Painted Turtle
Artist
Carol Senske
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
One of the most common and beloved of our wild turtles, the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) can be found in almost every pond, lake, and wetland habitat. They are often kept as pets, although I gentle would say this is not the best idea. Adults living in the wild can reach more than 40 years of age; maybe this is because they sleep at night and sunbathe most of the day - LOL.
Their food is mostly aquatic vegetation, insects, and maybe a small fish. The eggs and very young are eaten by snakes, and raccoons and other predators, but as adults their main source of trouble is cars.
To quote Wikipedia on the range of these turtles,
"The most widespread North American turtle,[57] the painted turtle is the only turtle whose native range extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific.[nb 4] It is native to eight of Canada's ten provinces, forty-five of the fifty United States, and one of Mexico's thirty-one states. On the East Coast, it lives from the Canadian Maritimes to the U.S. state of Georgia. On the West Coast, it lives in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon and offshore on southeast Vancouver Island.[nb 5] The northernmost American turtle,[59] its range includes much of southern Canada. To the south, its range reaches the U.S. Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Alabama. In the southwestern United States there are only dispersed populations. It is found in one river in extreme northern Mexico. It is absent in a part of southwestern Virginia and the adjacent states as well as in north-central Alabama."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_turtle
Painted Turtles are actually found as fossils, the oldest going back 15 million years in Nebraska.
You can also visit:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Chrysemys_picta.html
This picture was taken March 31, 2012, in the White's Mill Open Space Preserve in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Uploaded
July 3rd, 2012
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Comments (2)
Doris Potter
What a treasure. I love to watch them sunbathe and always feel guilty when I've inadvertently frightened them into the water. When out on a log they are the epitome of zen contemplation. Nice capture Carol.
Carol Senske replied:
Some of my favorite photos are of logs hosting around 30 or so of these adorable guys, all out for a sunning. They seem to be very sensitive to any movement or vibration, and even before I get close they often go plopping of the logs; I feel badly, too, just like you, to be disturbing their daydreams:>)
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