📍 Location: Durham, North Carolina 🗓 Date: May 8, 2026 🐾 Media: Image 🌿 Species: Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta) 📝 Notes: Medium-sized freshwater turtle commonly found in ponds, lakes, slow-moving rivers, canals, and marshes across the southeastern United States, with introduced populations in many other regions. Often seen basking on logs, rocks, or shoreline banks.
Carapace is typically dark green to brown with yellow striping; individuals often show red or yellow markings behind the eye depending on subspecies (notably the red-eared slider). Highly adaptable and frequently observed in human-altered water bodies.
Observed to be young juvenile, likely several days old at most. Hybrid between subspecies red-eared slider and yellow-bellied slider.
🔗 iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/359570640
