2 turtles on log

 

turtle tower

Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta of all sizes live in the pond.  They are oval shaped, and the carapace (top)  can be almost black to dark olive green.  The plastron (bottom) varies from red to orange with differing amounts of black patterning.  The older ones are as big as ten inches long, with the females being bigger than males.

These two 10" turtles are starting a 'turtle tower' on their favorite rock.

large turtle, medium turtle, small turtle

crow on rocks

The rocks scattered around the pond are revealed as the water level changes with rain or drought. It is always interesting to see what critter might rest, sun itself, or defend (for a moment) a particular dry rock.

This crow was trying to fetch seeds from the water surface by standing on two rocks.

basking turtles

Many Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta live in the pond. On sunny days they climb out of the water and bask in the sun to warm their blood.  In this temperate Spring weather, they spread all their appendages including head and neck out of the shell to get maximum exposure.

raided nest

Many Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta live in our pond. They mate once a year; in Minnesota, it is usually late May or June. Usually, Painted Turtles lay between 4 and 15 eggs. This year, the females looked for nest sites with soft sandy soil, even if they have to cross lawns and rocky shores.


One found a good spot on the sunny slope above the pond. Because she knows her hatchlings will instinctively head straight for the water, from here their short trip will be downhill.  She dug a shallow hole with her hind feet, and deposited her eggs.  She covered the hole carefully and returned to the water, her job done for this season.

The eggs usually hatch about 72 days later, in late August or early September.  Unfortunately, turtle nests are often discovered by birds, raccoons or skunks, who make a meal of the eggs.  It's not unusual for many of painted turtle eggs to be lost to predators.  We found a few raided turtle egg nests like this one . . .  the eggs eaten and the shells strewn around the hole.

turtle pile

Painted turtles have come out of hibernation.  They spent the winter in burrows dug into the mud at the bottom of the pond.  They can hibernate without oxygen for months. 

Now that the pond is warming up, they are emerging again.  They find a sunny spot to absorb the heat.