wild pair sunbathing Feb DC area

Loohan

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I'm visiting my mom in N VA and was hiking in a local park. It was mid-50s and somewhat hazy but i spotted these 2 critters in a shallow suburban creek:turtles2.2619.JPG
This is the best pic i could get with the old 4X zoom camera i had with me. I didn't want to get close and spook them.
 

Loohan

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pretty cool , I find it surprising how active water turtles can be in the winter in northern north America ……..

Virginians consider themselves US Southerners.
The climate seems pretty similar to where i live in N Central AR.
Even so, seems these turtles must be a long way from being able to digest food anytime soon.
Wonder what they are. Luckily don't seem to be feral RES's.
 

Markw84

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Virginians consider themselves US Southerners.
The climate seems pretty similar to where i live in N Central AR.
Even so, seems these turtles must be a long way from being able to digest food anytime soon.
Wonder what they are. Luckily don't seem to be feral RES's.
These two are indeed what look like red-ear sliders. They could be Cumberland sliders, which are native to that area. Two males. The males are much more active in cooler weather than females. They will use that to actually find females and breed with them while the females are less active and easier to subdue!

Nice picture.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Virginians consider themselves US Southerners.
The climate seems pretty similar to where i live in N Central AR.
Even so, seems these turtles must be a long way from being able to digest food anytime soon.
Wonder what they are. Luckily don't seem to be feral RES's.
They do look like Red Ears to me.
 

Yvonne G

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My pond is waking up. We've had a very mild winter.
 

mark1

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Virginians consider themselves US Southerners.
The climate seems pretty similar to where i live in N Central AR.
Even so, seems these turtles must be a long way from being able to digest food anytime soon.
Wonder what they are. Luckily don't seem to be feral RES's.


I believe they are legitimate southerners ,I thought it has something to do with the mason Dixon line ? even so , many of them southerners live further north than some of us northerners ….. I've fished the rivers of northern ohio in the winter all my life ,if there wasn't too much ice I was fishing , I've never seen a turtle in dec, jan, feb, …... I would have never known how active and alert some of these turtles could be in the dead of winter , at below freezing air temps and near freezing water temps ….. had I not seen them in a confined observable space I would never believed a reptile could remain that active at those temps ……..

winter isn't letting go here , I see a 13 , 11 , 12 and 15 F for next week , were not supposed to get above freezing until next Friday ……...

a sunny 38 degree day

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