Eastern Basking Turtles

     Several species of inland water turtles in the eastern United States are notorious for basking in the warm sunlight.  Being cold-blooded, like all other species of reptiles, and amphibians, turtles soak up sunlight to warm up to be active enough to hunt food, and mates during their breeding season.  In fact most kinds of fresh water turtles are most likely to be seen by us people only when they bask.  And when there is a shortage of logs and rocks in the water to bask on, these species of water turtles stack on top of each other when resting in the sunshine.  But if they sense danger, they quickly flop into the water and rapidly swim to the bottom of the water to hide in mud or among aquatic vegetation until that danger passes.
     The rest of the time these turtles are under water hunting aquatic food or resting on the surface of water with only their noses sticking out to breathe.  A list of those turtles includes eastern painted, northern red-bellied and map turtles, plus pond sliders, two types of cooters and chicken turtles.  Generally, they inhabit ponds, lakes, and sluggish creeks and rivers.  And there they hibernate, or are dormant, during winter. 
     Water turtles in the eastern United States mate during the heat of mid-summer.  Females store sperm from one mating for a few years of laying eggs.  June is the main time when female turtles lay eggs in the eastern United States.  They all lay eggs in nests they dig with their back legs in soil or sand near the water they live in.  The sun's warmth incubates the eggs and the young hatch about two months later and try to enter nearby water for safety.  But some nests of eggs are dug up and eaten by raccoons, skunks and other critters.  And many young turtles are eaten by gulls,  crows, vultures, alligators, raccoons and other predatory creatures.
     Eastern painted turtles live throughout much of the eastern United States, from New England south, except the Deep South and Florida.  They are the most abundant and widespread of turtles in this region.  They live in small ponds, marshes, retention basins, roadside ditches and other small bodies of fresh water.  The young and older line up on logs to sun themselves. 
     Painted turtles have top shells that can be up to nine inches long.  They are beautiful turtles, and so-named because they have yellow bottom shells and red and yellow stripes on their necks, legs and tails.  The young eat small animals to get protein for growth, but adults mostly consume aquatic vegetation.
     Northern red-bellied turtles' upper shells can be up to 15 inches long.  This uncommon species has dull-red on its under shell and is dark on top.  This species mostly inhabits deeper ponds and lakes in extreme southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, the Delmarva Peninsula and the coasts of Maryland and Virginia.  It feeds on crayfish, snails, tadpoles, carrion and water plants.
     Map turtles are mostly green with many yellow lines, rings and markings on their top shells, heads and legs.  The markings on their upper shells do give the appearance of maps.  Males' upper shells can be up to six inches long while those of females might be as much as ten inches in length.  Females also have larger heads, proportionally, than their male relatives.
     Map turtles live fairly commonly in rivers and larger creeks in the eastern United States.  There they ingest crayfish, snails, fresh water clams, aquatic insects and other water creatures they catch on the muddy bottoms of those waterways.                   
     There are two major subspecies of pond sliders, red-eared and yellow-bellied.  The red-eared variety is mostly green when young, with a red bar on each side of the neck.  These were the baby turtles most likely sold to be pets.  Yellow-bellies have a few vertical, yellow bars on their top shells and a large, yellow blotch behind each eye. 
     Pond sliders can grow upper shells up to ten inches long.  They are a species of the Deep South and the Mississippi River Basin.  But many baby sliders, bought as pets, were released into the wild at some point, including outside their original range.  There they grew up, found mates and started populations of themselves in The North.  Today they are common in some creeks and ponds in The North, as they are in The South. 
     In the wild, young sliders consume insects, crayfish and other small critters, but turn to water vegetation as they get older.  Not only do the young get protein for growth, but they are not competing with adults for food that might be limited in places.
     Cooters are large turtles of The South.  Their top shells can be up to 15 inches long.  Those upper shells are greenish or brown with many thin, yellow circles and other golden markings.  And there are lines of yellow on their heads, necks and tails.  Adult male cooters have elongated nails on their front feet that they use to tickle the chins of potential mates to induce them into mating.
     The shells of chicken turtles can be as much as ten inches in length.  This species has a really long, yellow-striped  neck.  When extended, their necks can be about as long as their shells.  Males are smaller than females in this species, and have proportionally longer, thicker tails.  And, generally, chicken turtles have brown, upper shells.
     These six kinds of turtles that live in fresh water waterways and impoundments and bask together on partly submerged logs and rocks are interesting when spotted sunning themselves.  And each species is pretty in its own way.  But one has to be cautious when approaching these turtles because they are quick to splash into the water and hide.