I know that this isn’t actually a “water garden question” but it could be! And I since I put this one in the back 2 acres where the swamp is (that’s a water garden, isn’t it?) I thought I’d post this here first.

Who, if anyone, knows anything about turtles?



I found this big boy trying to cross a busy road and he? got stopped by the curb on the side he was trying to go to. So, I picked him up to keep him from being turtle “smash” and brought him to my back 2 acres. I figure he can travel around without worry of car crashes

But, I’d really like to know what kind of turtle I rescued!

I think that a photo of his head (side view) is necessary for identification...

jiffy
i hope its not a "snapper"

I would say it is some kind of box turtle. Looks similar to some we used to rescue off the road in MS.

P.S. Does not look like a snapping turtle, their shells have more defined separations in the shell.

This looks like a possibility.

http://www.allturtles.com/turtle_species/slider.php

it looks like he's/she's not home
i thought of a box after i posted the snapper. yeah thier shells look a little more prehistoric too don't they

well, he was most definitely home. he got mad at me all the way home 'cause every time he thought it was safe to look around, i'd hit the brakes. so, he gave up and didn't come back out.

i checked all the links, but didn't see one like him. i know he wasn't a snapper or a box. if i remember correctly, the box turtles will "close" their shell and his wasn't the close-able kind.

and he wasn't a snapper or i wouldn't have any fingers left! i messed with him pretty good, as you can tell by the pictures.

my best guess is that he is a land terrapin. since he was over 9" long and 7" wide, and his shell didn't close...

when i was a girl, before it was illegal (and before we knew it wasn't smart) some of my family used to go "turtle pulling". i hadn't seen a turtle that big since then, and we used to eat those.

i'm thinking that must be what he was... but, he's free to run where he can't get eaten or run over by a car now. i turned him loose on the back 3 acres.

just a quick update... he was a land terrapin. they had a big write up in the local paper this summer and had a picture of one of his buddies

they are considered a threatened species around here

Its illegal to hunt turtles? Man are the kids on my block in trouble! lol Its all they do for a good part of the summer. We have a lake full of paints, and snappers. That is deffinetly not a snapper. We have seen snappers around here over 2 feet in diameter. Ya dont want one of them getting your toe while ya swim.

"hunting" turtles (like kids do) is different from the turtle hunting (actually called turtle pulling) than we did when i was a kid. the difference is that kids keep them a while and then set them free. we ate the ones we got. and there are only a few that were considered "food" - land terrapins being one of them.