#painted turtle

[jagalart]

lakeside

Patron reward for the fantastic Fiyerose. <3 what a relaxing theme this was!

[herpsandbirds]

Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta), family Emydidae, Eastern U.S.

photograph by Courtney Celley/USFWS

[geopsych]

Both saying, "Nope, I don't believe we're as closely related as they say!" Spotted sandpiper and a painted turtle, sharing a basking platform.

[hingubingu]

Work in progress

[quinnfrankephotography]

Some photos from my walk today. It's been very hot and very rainy. But today was quite nice.

[thomas--bombadil]

A muck-covered turtle looks at me indignantly.

Perhaps I'm blocking the sun, ruining its sunbathing.

[schadhauser]

the weather is finally warming up in maine and on every nature walk I go on I see at least a dozen turtles basking in the sun :,) may's patreon snail mail is most certainly going to be turtle themed.

but the issue is I love every turtle that I've drawn so far... so it's been hard choosing a composition for the postcard...!! I'm leaning towards focusing on the bottom left painted turtle illustration :) what do you think?

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Get Your Art On with the Painted Turtle

The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is North America's most common turtle. They are found in a variety of freshwater habitats including lakes, ponds, marshes, and slow-moving rivers from the Mississippi River basin up to the Pacific Northwest. They especially prefer bodies of water with plentiful vegetation and logs or rocks which provide areas for basking.

Painted turtles are named for their brightly colored shells. The top, or carapace, is typically black or dark green with red embelleshments between the plates, or scutes, while the underside is patterned bright red and orange. The head is black with yellow streaking. Adults can grow to be between 13–25 cm (5–10 in) long and weigh about 450 g (1 lb); males are smaller than females. They can be distinguished from the similar painted turtle (Trachemys scripta) by the lack of red spot behind the eye.

C. picta is a bottom-feeder, consuming aquatic plants, fish, crustaceans, insects, and carrion. When not hunting, they are often seen basking on logs or rocks, either solo or in congregations of up to a dozen. Their hard shells protect them from predators, but adults are still sometimes caught by foxes, raccoons, coyotes, and otters. In addition to the larger mammals, juveniles are also vulnerable to predation by large fish.

Mating occurs in the spring, when adults emerge from hibernation and water temperatures reach 10–25 °C (50–77 °F). Males court females by stroking her face with his claws, but females don't lay their eggs until May-July. When it is time to lay, they dig burrows in the sandy bank and lay about 6 eggs. Females may lay between 2-5 clutches a year. The eggs take 72–80 to hatch; however, hatchlings in colder climates will stay in their nest burrow throughout the winter and climb out in the spring. Males reach full maturity at 2–4 years old, while females become mature at 6–10. Adults can live as old as 40 years in the wild.

Conservation status: Painted turtles are rated as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their primary threat is habitat destruction; many adults are also killed by roadkill as they transfer between ponds or seek out nesting sites.

Photos

Will Parson

Drew R. Davis (C. picta on the right)

Greg Schechter