Eastern Mud Turtle

I was working in my backyard when I found this little turtle hanging out close to a pool of water located in my usually dried out/muddy creek bed. When I first saw this little guy, I thought it was a common box turtle, but I couldn’t find any colorful markings on it. Its skin was medium/dark brown and its shell was olive green. As far as I can tell this is an Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum subrubrum), a semi-aquatic creature that spends a lot of time crawling around on the bottom of shallow ponds, mudholes, and other shallow aquatic habitats. These turtles are omnivorous; they eat seeds, insects, and smaller crustaceans like crayfish. Since they only get a little bigger than a man’s fist, they also experience a lot of predation from rodents, birds, and snakes. The Eastern Mud Turtle possesses two hinges on the bottom of its shell allowing it to close for protection. If the turtle is lucky enough, the predator will grow tired of trying to eat it and back off letting the turtle live to see another day.

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