So it was 77 degrees in SW MI today and turtles came out. Typically it would be the first week of April. Almost all of February has been sunny and unseasonably warm.
We’re supposed to get an inch of snow tomorrow and have single digit windchills but then it looks like more sunshine and temps well above normal so hopefully my reptile friends will reappear soon.
Amazing.
That warm weather will be in New England this weekend - not 70’s but it is going to get up into the 60’s. I have a family party on Saturday, but I hope to get out paddling on Sunday.
I hiked a trail along a river here in NC last week. Saw some big turtles basking. I’m trying to identify turtles like I do with birds. All I’m coming up with is cooters and sliders.
. I had a turtle come out yesterday. Seems it was hiding in a field I was discing and it was flipped out . I put it over near a brush pile.
I think all the ones in my pics are (muddy) painted turtles.
Pseudimes? scripta. Part of the little I remember from a course on Herpetology and Ichtheology.
The other was from Patrick McManus ,
feline ichtheopatties . Catfish patties.
He wrote some of the funniest books about hunting and fishing I’ve ever read.
“They shoot canoes, don’t they?” was one of his…
I am blessed to live in the tropics where I see sea turtles year round. They are curious yet shy. Crocodiles prey on sea turtles. You should see the turtles dart away when they see the shadow of our kayaks, thinking it is a large crocodile. There was one time I startled a sea turtle but once it realised I was not a crocodile it circled me several times checking me out, a truly magical experience!
Yes, I have seen crocodiles a few times when kayaking and I give them a wide berth. I don’t approach them and so far they haven’t approached me. People who know way more than me say that approaching a crocodile will be regarded as a challenge and will elicit a territorial response.
Great story kimbo. Thanks for sharing.
Sometimes I’m pretty sure I know what turtles are thinking too. Usually softshells are skittish and won’t let you get close but yesterday this one was just reluctant to give up a really good spot.
One thing about softshells that may be similar to crocodiles is that they can run much faster than you’d ever expect.
