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Caught sight of this Eastern Box Turtle grazing in a grass patch above our driveway Sunday. First one I had seen around here. When I finally brought the mower around to where he had been, he was gone. Hope he looked twice before crossing our street.
When you look at him enlarged on black background, appears he might have forgotten to wash his face before he left the house that morning.
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© Moelyn Photos. All rights reserved
Beans, a female Diamondback turtle full of eggs, was trapped in a sunken patio in Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod on July 8, 2007.
We almost didn't notice her sitting there, but I don't know how since her spots were so bright orange.
This guy was slowly crossing State Line, trying to get to Missouri . Apparently this is a Western Painted Turtle
I Have Never Seen A Turtle Whilst Snorkelling I Wud Love 2 See 1 Because They Are Very Friendly And Wen They Swim It Makes Me Laugh =P
♥
One of distinguishing features of map turtles is the ridge of black tipped knobs running along the spine, and the jagged rear carapace edge. The shell is typically olive to brown with an intricate pattern of yellow to orange semi-circles on the carapace scutes (reminiscent of a road map); these patterns often fade with age & may be obscured by algae overgrowth. Mississippi maps have moderately prominent black-tipped knobbing (less than Black-Knobbed maps, more than Common maps).
The plastron is tan to yellowish with brown lines resembling wood grain at the edges of the scutes. These fade with age and become less distinct. The plastron may have some dark patterning.
The head of the Mississippi map has the main identifying feature. On the side of the head there will be a curved line (a ‘reverse crescent’) that curves down behind & sweeps under the eye. From the top view there is a single line running down the center of the head separating the two crescent lines on the sides. Another semi-reliable distinguishing feature is the round pupil & bright, unbroken iris; Mississippi maps stereotypically have no bar across the pupil (unlike Ouachita & False maps), though exceptions exist.
Females are considerably larger than males. The male being 3 ½” to 5” and the female anywhere from 6” to 10” SCL. Males have a leaner look more like juveniles, but females have a bulkier build.
Map turtles get their name from the lines and markings on their carapace which resemble the contour lines of a map. Sex can be determined by examining the tail. The tail of the female is considerably smaller than that of the male. The male has a much thicker-based and longer tail than the small petite tail of the female. Males also have slightly longer nails on the forelegs (similar to painted males, but not the extent of male sliders & cooters).
OMG A REAL LIFE SEA TURTLE! Amazings. DanE followed one of these guys for about ten minutes, just him and a turtle.
These awesome photos were shot by the photographer onboard of Woodwind, his company is called Bonphoto.
Mary Kay drove to the Mississippi River area sites today for a day of birding and photography. Started off at Lock and Dam 13 and then worked our way west and north. We ran into 3 different turtles, a Snapping Turtle and two Ornate Box Turtles. One of the Ornates spotted as it crossed the road so we stopped and took some pictures. She is going to convert me to more than birds at this rate.
Mesquakie8_060611_DSC_0185_Ornate_Turtle