March 08 – My Nature Journal

Pond Turtles

Family Emydidae

Starting in early spring, the lakes around which I like to walk come alive with pond turtles. After spending the winter quiet and hidden in the mud of the lake bottom, dozens of individual turtles emerge to bask and begin their active season.

I’m always happy to see pond turtles again after several months of their absence from the landscape but not every turtle brings me the same pleasure.

North Carolina boasts many native pond turtle species, one of which is the River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna).

River Cooters change their appearance as they age. Young turtles have intricate, yellow or tan swirls on the scutes of their shells. Their dark heads, necks, and legs usually bear thin, yellow, lengthwise stripes. But the shells and bodies of older individuals darken over time, so that some turtles are almost completely black.

River Cooters are so common in my area that I habitually assume any pond turtle I see is a River Cooter, unless proven otherwise.

Unfortunately, my native turtles have invasive company, in the form of the exotic Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans).

While a very attractive turtle, the Red-eared Slider doesn’t belong in North Carolina.

Its native range is the deep south, starting in Alabama and covering Mississippi, Louisiana, and most of Texas. But over the years, irresponsible pet dealers and pet owners have released Red-eared Sliders into North Carolina’s waterways, where they compete (and sometimes out-compete) the native turtles.