Painted Turtles

     As I write this on the morning of November 26, 2014 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the temperature is in the 40's, rain is falling and 3 to 5 inches of snow are in the forecast for the afternoon.  The weather has the look and feel of winter.  Yet two days ago the weather was partly sunny with temperatures in the 60's, a good day to be outside, which I was.  I saw some birds of various kinds and lovely scenery, but at least 37 eastern painted turtles sunning themselves were the most interesting wildlife I noted that day.
     A couple of weeks before in the Mid-Atlantic States, temperatures dropped unusually low for November and ice formed on impoundments and puddles.  No cold-blooded creatures, including painted turtles, would have been active then.  But many critters are adaptable and respond quickly to changing conditions to their own benefit, as do painted turtles.  And when the weather warmed, there they were sunning themselves, as they do during warmer months each year.  I was startled to see so many of them as I drove from place to place looking for any kind of nature obvious that day.
     Painted turtles are pretty and I enjoy seeing them whenever I can.  Their shells and scaled skin are mostly dark, which camouflages them.  But they also have striking red and yellow stripes on their necks and fore legs.  Yellow dominates their lower shells.  The upper shells of adults are about five inches long, and flat for easier slipping through water.
     Painted turtles are aquatic, commonly living in smaller impoundments and slower creeks.  They may be more common here today than ever in their life history because human-made impoundments seem ready-made for them.  They have adapted well to them.  And painted turtles move overland from pond to pond, as some impoundments become over-populated with them.   
     Painted turtles, like all living beings, are part of several food chains.  Youngsters consume a variety of invertebrates, as well as tadpoles, snails, carrion and other animal material.  Adults are more likely to eat aquatic plants.  And the main predators on younger turtles are snapping turtles, mink and great blue herons.  Skunks and raccoons dig up and eat their eggs. 
     Painted turtles are most handsome when quietly sunning themselves.  Their necks and heads are erect as they look around for possible danger.  And at the least hint of trouble, they flop into the water and swim to the bottom to hide. 
     These turtles breed early in summer.  Males have long toe nails on their front feet to caress females during courtship before mating.  And males have long tails that help in the process of breeding.  Females lay their half dozen or more eggs in soft soil near water.  Toward the end of summer, after a couple of months of incubating in the sun-warmed soil, the inch-long young hatch and enter the nearest body of water where they feed and grow until cold sets in and they are dormant through winter.  During warmer afternoons the next March, all painted turtles are active again and can be spotted.
     Painted turtles, and other kinds of turtles, except snapping turtles, are protected by law.  Capturing them for any reason is prohibited.
     Eastern painted turtles are inoffensive little critters that are lovely to see.  They make ponds and slow waterways more interesting.