Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Description: Painted Turtles are brightly colored animals for a turtle and are commonly known through a large range. The carapace is black or olive, in an oval shape. It also is smooth and has red markings on the border. Its head is striped with yellow and olive; its legs have olive and red. The plastron is yellow to light orange. In the eastern subspecies the plastron is blank, in the midland subspecies, there is a dark blotch in the center.
Eggs: It lays 2-15 eggs in a flask shaped chamber. The nests are often raided by mammal predators such as raccoon and skunks.
Diet: Young turtles feed on insects and invertebrates, as they mature they become more herbivorous feeding mainly on aquatic vegetation.
Habitat: Swamps, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Several can be seen basking on structures such as logs, rocks and muskrat houses. They cross roads in May and June in search of nesting sites and often fall victim to automobiles.
Eggs: It lays 2-15 eggs in a flask shaped chamber. The nests are often raided by mammal predators such as raccoon and skunks.
Diet: Young turtles feed on insects and invertebrates, as they mature they become more herbivorous feeding mainly on aquatic vegetation.
Habitat: Swamps, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Several can be seen basking on structures such as logs, rocks and muskrat houses. They cross roads in May and June in search of nesting sites and often fall victim to automobiles.