Greetings All
Great day here in Maryland with our first real week with temperatures in the low- to mid-80's. We went out for a drive toward the Eastern Shore of MD and on our return we came across this guy in the busy highway. I was able to safely pull over and retrieve what we believe is a "red-bellied cooter" out of harm's way and then released into a nearby freshwater pond.
At first look, I thought it was a typical painted turtle, but after closer inspection and some internet browsing, we're pretty sure it's a red-bellied cooter. You can see his red belly, dark carapace, v shape in beak, large size, etc.
Here's a quick link to some info http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/red_bellied_turtle
and some pix.
Here you can see the good size of this native turtle - nice dark carapace, dark head.
Here you can see the red coloring in the carapace, stripes on throat, V in beak.
Great day here in Maryland with our first real week with temperatures in the low- to mid-80's. We went out for a drive toward the Eastern Shore of MD and on our return we came across this guy in the busy highway. I was able to safely pull over and retrieve what we believe is a "red-bellied cooter" out of harm's way and then released into a nearby freshwater pond.
At first look, I thought it was a typical painted turtle, but after closer inspection and some internet browsing, we're pretty sure it's a red-bellied cooter. You can see his red belly, dark carapace, v shape in beak, large size, etc.
Here's a quick link to some info http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/red_bellied_turtle
and some pix.
Here you can see the good size of this native turtle - nice dark carapace, dark head.
Here you can see the red coloring in the carapace, stripes on throat, V in beak.