Sunday, June 10, 2012

Another Turtle Sighting!

My sister and I were driving into town last night from the cottage (town being only a five minute drive away, very convenient) and came across this turtle in the middle of the road. Of course, we had to stop the car and get out to have a visit with him, make sure he got to the side of the road without getting run over.

Thanks to the information on the "Species Guides" section of the Toronto Zoo's website (home of the Ontario Turtle Tally, where I duly reported this sighting), I am able to state quite confidently that this is a Blanding's turtle. You can see his size from this photo of him and my sister's foot. I would say he was about a quarter of the size of the snapping turtle I saw a few weeks ago.

I thought he was rather a handsome fellow.  The yellow under his chin was particularly striking.

After he crawled into the brush on the side of the road, we drove in to town and had a pizza from the new pizza place (which was quite delicious) while sitting on a bench beside the river, enjoying a perfect early summer evening.

Some poor soul had left three pretty glass rings near where we ate. I left them there, in case they came back for them.  Or maybe a water sprite will find them...

On the drive back to the cottage, we came across the turtle again.  He was maybe half a kilometer from where we had left him an hour before, this time walking on the side of the road, and he went into the brush without us having to get out of the car (don't think he liked the sound of the car engine as we parked beside him).  Pretty sure it was the same turtle but can't be 100 percent positive.  What do you think?

 

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