Herpetofauna - One Life's List Midland
Painted Turtle Johnson Co., Illinois. May 19, 2001 |
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My first marginata
was far from any water - it was laying eggs in the middle of a trail a
hundred feet or more up a steep, rocky slope, far from any water.
Why some turtles travel so far to lay their eggs is a mystery to me - is
it to disperse the young, or to hide them from predators, or some other
reason?
The turtle pictured here was found on a grassy bank next to a roadside ditch, a good place to find turtles up close sometimes. The other alternative is 'turtle spotting' with a pair of binoculars as they bask on logs out on the water. |
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