shy painted turtle

shy painted turtle

crossing the road to Jack's Pond

in search of a nest

Just before our house I spot a turtle on the gravel road. A hard shell is no match for the wheels of a car, so I stop to see whether I can move it out of harm's way. First, I want to make sure it's not a snapping turtle. This turtle does have a pointed snout, but when I see the jazzy yellow stripes on its head and legs, I recognize my old friend, the painted turtle. This is the same kind of turtle we used to buy at Ben Franklin's five and dime when I was a kid. The baby turtle was the size of a silver dollar. We put it in a shallow bowl with some water and a rock to climb on and fed it fish food. I don't remember any of these little pets surviving very long, though in the wild they can live more than 55 years. This one is an adult, but still small enough that my hands just fit on top of its smooth olive shell. The upper shell sports a bright red border, the plates are edged with rosy red and the flat bottom shell is bright yellow. When it sees me approaching it tucks its pointy head and legs into its shell. The hard shells protect it from most predators except alligators and raccoons. We don't have alligators in Iowa, but we do have plenty of raccoons. Alligators, of course, could easily crush the shell, and raccoons, with their dexterous fingers, can pry open just about anything. More often, the turtle eggs and hatchlings fall prey to rodents, canines and snakes. The painted turtle lives in slow-moving fresh waters all across the northern hemisphere, where it eats water plants, fish, crustaceans and insects. I've often seen them sunning on logs or rocks during the warmth of the day when they are active. Sometimes several of them will line up along a log protruding from the water. When disturbed they quickly slip into the water, where they can remain submerged with just their snouts sticking up like a snorkel. In winter they hibernate on muddy bottoms. Spring is mating season and this turtle may be searching for a place on land near water to lay her eggs. I pick it up and gently move it onto the bank of the pond, then quietly slip away.