Where to find turtles

People sometimes turn turtles loose, thinking they are "freeing" them, but it's typically illegal to release turtles outdoors. Turtles let loose might die, and they might carry disease that kills other turtles. If they live, they can out-compete native species for food and habitat, threatening native biodiversity. The red-eared slider turtles common in the pet trade are native to only part of the United States, but are turning up where they are not native across the country and around the globe.

They are now considered among the world's most invasive species. Thinking of getting a pet turtle? Consider the risks to your health, the earth and the animals. Top 10 tips. Get Your Copy. You don't have to touch the turtle to get sick You don't have to touch the turtle to get sick, because salmonella can live on surfaces. Turtles need a lifetime of specialized care Turtles are often marketed as low-maintenance pets, but the truth is that they need special care and a lot of room to grow.

As most sea turtles prefer warmer waters, they will often times migrate and venture for hundreds of miles when the temperature drops or to search for food. In fact, the loggerhead turtle will sometimes migrate to Baja California, in Mexico, all the way from Japan, just for food. The most abundant of any type of chelonian at more than different types are freshwater turtles. These animals can be found in a bunch of diverse environments.

Freshwater turtles are usually found in forests, bogs, marshes, swamps, wetlands, ponds and rivers. If you were to walk outside long enough in North America, Europe or Asia you would probably eventually come across them. These animals spend half to the majority of their lives in water. They usually only come out to bask in the sunlight or to catch and feed prey.

The Red-Eared Slider, on the other hand, is the most common pet turtle in the world. These creatures are native to the southern United States and parts of Mexico. They can be found in areas with warmer, calmer water such as ponds and lakes with rocks and other types of natural objects that would allow them to get out of the water to bask in the sun. The Brazilian snake-necked turtle, however, can be found in southeastern Brazil. This snake-necked turtles prefer streams and rivers with sandy bottoms above an elevation of m 2, ft.

The carapace is quite rough, serrated along its rear margin, and has three rows of keels running its length. These keels may be difficult to discern in older specimens. The unpatterned plastron is yellow to tan and it is cross-shaped and relatively small. It does not cover nearly as much of the underside as plastrons do on most other turtles.

This large turtle resides in a broad area of the country. Its natural range extends from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains. Thus, the common snapping turtle is distributed throughout Pennsylvania. An aquatic reptile, the snapping turtle has little preference for the type of water in which it resides. Snappers have been found in small streams as well as large rivers, in the smallest ponds to the largest lakes.

It likes soft mud bottoms, especially if abundant vegetation is convenient. Rarely seen basking, the snapper prefers to rest in shallow water with just the eyes and nostrils exposed. The snapping turtle hibernates beneath the water. It ends its hibernation in April, emerging from an overhanging mud bank, muskrat hole or from under a collection of vegetative debris. For the snapping turtle, the peak time for laying eggs is June.

A usual clutch includes 25 to 50 eggs. The eggs are round and just over one inch in diameter. The nest, a cavity four to seven inches deep, might be dug some distance from the water See Figure IV Depending on the weather and locale, nine to 16 weeks could be needed to incubate the eggs.

When the eggs finally break open, young snappers barely more than an inch long emerge. To some extent, the snapping turtle is considered a scavenger because it feeds on a certain amount of carrion. But the snapper does not limit itself to that. It eats a variety of invertebrates as well as fish, small mammals and even birds. Ducklings, for instance, have been known to fall prey to a snapping turtle.

Walking casually along the bottom of a lake, eyes alert, the snapping turtle could surface quickly to snatch a feathery meal. Omnivorous in its feeding habits, the snapping turtle also consumes a variety of aquatic plants.

Kinosternon subrubrum subrubrum. It is more an aquatic animal, so draining wetlands and filling in swamps and marshlands has had a predictable adverse effect on the population. A small turtle, the eastern mud turtle reaches an upper shell length of only three to four inches. The eastern mud turtle has few, if any, distinctive field marks. The carapace may range from and olive to a dark brown or almost black.

There is no definitive pattern or markings. The upper shell is smooth and the scales, or scutes, have no keels. The plastron is yellow to brown and may be marked at times with black or brown. The lower shell is double-hinged and contains 11 scutes. The head of the eastern mud turtle is brown and marked with numerous widespread yellow spots or streaks. On the male, the tail ends in a well-developed blunt spine.

In Pennsylvania, the eastern mud turtle inhabited the extreme southeastern corner of the state, particularly in the lower Delaware River Valley. In this heavily populated area much of its habitat has been destroyed, accounting for its dwindling numbers. Its natural range extends south from here to the Gulf Coast, and north to Connecticut. Even though it is essentially aquatic, the mud turtle travels some distance over land in search of a new home if that becomes necessary. It prefers shallow, slow-moving water, either fresh or brackish, and it likes streams with a soft bottom.

Marshes, ditches and even wet meadows satisfy the mud turtle's need for a water-based environment. The eastern mud turtle is sexually mature at five to seven years old and breeds in mid-March to May. Its nest is a three- to five-inch cavity carved from either a pile of vegetative debris or sandy or loamy soil commonly found in its habitat. In June, the mud turtle lays one to six eggs that are elliptical and hard-shelled. About one inch long, the shell is pinkish or bluish white.

When hatched, the young mud turtle has a rough carapace that becomes smooth as it matures. The eastern mud turtle is carnivorous, preferring to search beneath the water for its meals.

Insects are the main diet staples. Sternotherus odoratus. The stinkpot is the only musk turtle inhabiting Pennsylvania. Although abundant in many waters within its range, it often is not seen because it is primarily an aquatic animal. Nonetheless, it likes to leave the water to bask in the sun, and quite mobile, often climbs slanted trees or logs to find a resting place. An apparent ability over other turtles to climb steeper surfaces is provided by a smaller plastron, which allows greater movement of the legs.

The carapace measures three inches to just over four inches in adults. In clear water the stinkpot might be observed walking across the bottom in search of food. It often is caught by a surprised angler. When disturbed, it is liable to secrete a foul-smelling yellowish fluid. This fluid, which acts in many cases as a deterrent to would-be attackers, is discharged from two pairs of musk glands located under the border of the upper shell.

Some have described the stinkpot as pugnacious, almost vicious. It is said to have a short temper and strong jaws. The stinkpot's carapace is smooth, highly domed and elongated. It is normally olive-brown to dark gray and may be marked with irregular streaks or spots of a darker color.

The small plastron has 11 scutes with small patches of skin visible between them. There is a single hinge that is difficult to locate on most specimens. The female's tail is very short. The male's tail tends to be a bit longer and ends in a blunt, horny nail. Small fleshy barbels protrude from the chin and throat. On most individuals, two light stripes stand out on an otherwise black head.

Although thought at one time to be distributed statewide, recent studies show that the stinkpot does not inhabit the Allegheny Mountains. These same studies indicate that the stinkpot dwells in two separate ranges in opposite corners of the state. It also is found in a larger area of southeastern Pennsylvania and particularly in the more centrally located counties where prosperous populations of stinkpots have been discovered in the limestone streams.

The stinkpot prefers quiet, slow-moving, shallow streams and rivers, preferably with a mud bottom. In early spring the stinkpot seeks out waters shallow enough so that it can bask with the center of its carapace exposed to the warm sun.

The stinkpot is one of the first turtles to nest, beginning in May but going as late as August. Mating occurs under water.

Then, leaving the water, the female lays one to nine eggs in a shallow nest dug under a rotting stump or within the confines of an old muskrat hole.

The eggs are off-white but circled with a stark-white band. They are thick-shelled, elongated and just a bit more than one inch long. The eggs take nine to 12 weeks to incubate. The carapace of the newly hatched turtle is black, three-quarters to one inch in length, and it has a rough texture.

The stinkpot is carnivorous and seems to eat nearly anything it is able to catch. A sampling of the stinkpot's diet includes small fish, snails, aquatic insects, clams, worms and fish eggs. Apparently hungry a large portion of the time, the stinkpot has been known to forage for a meal day and night. Chrysemys picta marginata.

The attractive painted turtle is the most widespread of any in North America. One subspecies with intergrades, which may show characteristics from other subspecies in adjoining areas, is found in Pennsylvania. Not a particularly large turtle, it attains adult sizes of four to six inches along the upper shell, or carapace. The carapace is olive or black, oval, smooth, and somewhat flattened.

Red and black markings on the edges of the shell, in the form of bars or crescent-shaped patterns, are good identifying characteristics. The plastron is an unmistakable yellow or red with a dark blotch in its center. Each side of the head is marked with bright-yellow spots and stripes See Figure IV-9 , and yellow and red stripes define the neck, legs and tail. The upper jaw is notched. Its range extends from southern Quebec and Ontario in Canada southward to Tennessee. It misses most of Virginia and North Carolina.

In Pennsylvania, the painted turtle is found from border to border in all directions. It is fond of basking and often is observed sunning itself on a large rock beside a slow-moving stream or river. Shallow areas of lakes attract the painted turtle. It particularly likes streams with soft bottoms, generously sprinkled with vegetation and dotted with submerged logs. The male painted turtle is sexually mature at two to five years of age.

The female matures from four to eight years of age. One to two clutches, consisting of two to 20 elliptically shaped eggs, are laid in May to July on land in a flask-like nest about four inches deep.

The eggs incubate for 10 to 11 weeks before splitting open to reveal hatchlings an inch or less in shell length. The young may spend the first winter in the nest. While young, the painted turtle is basically carnivorous but becomes more herbivorous with age. It eats insects, crayfish and mollusks in the beginning, then turns to a variety of aquatic plants. Clemmys guttata. The spotted turtle is found in fairly good numbers throughout its range, unlike its close cousin, the endangered bog turtle.

This turtle is small with an upper shell length of only three to slightly more than four inches. It likes to bask in clumps of grasses, especially during the cooler spring months, and is more often seen during the spring than any other time of the year. The carapace of this small turtle is black and without keels on the scales. Its upper shell is sprinkled with round yellow spots that vary greatly in number from one specimen to another.

The head, neck and legs are marked with yellow or orange spots. Its black head has an orange spot over the eyes. The lower shell, or plastron, is creamy yellow and bordered with large black blotches. The female has orange eyes and a yellow chin.

The male has brown eyes and a tan chin. The male also has a long, thick tail. The spotted turtle resides in states along the Atlantic Coast from Georgia northward to southern Maine.

Be sure to assist a turtle in the road only when it is safe to do so and do not attempt to stop traffic. Research has shown that aquatic turtle populations across the United States have uncommonly high proportions of males because so many female turtles are being killed on roadways. Guidance on Assisting Turtles: Always keep the turtle pointed in the direction it is going.

If you turn it around in the other direction, the turtle will only make another attempt to cross the road. Turtles have a home range and females often return to the same general area to lay their eggs. Some people use a shovel or a stick to push or skid snapping turtles across the road.

Turtles have a long lifespan, take a long time to reach sexual maturity, and have low survivorship when newly hatched. Because of these attributes, turtle populations cannot compensate for losses due to adult mortality without experiencing long-term consequences. This concern is even greater in recent years because many U. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Threats to U. Turtles Humans cause the largest harm to turtle populations, but we have the power to make positive changes toward turtle survival.

The largest threats to turtle populations include: Habitat loss and degradation; Over-harvest of wild turtles for food, traditional medicines, and pets; Illegal trafficking of wild turtles ; Mortality from roads, agricultural machinery, fishing by-catch, and predators; Exotic invasive species and diseases; Loss of unique genetic make-up due to hybridization; and Climate change.

Conservation Action Can Help Careful stewardship and conservation action can successfully slow or reduce the declining trend of turtles. Three basic approaches for species conservation include: Protecting rare species and their habitats; Managing common turtle species and their habitats so that they remain common; and Managing crisis situations, such as species in peril from acute hazards, like oil spills.