Came Home to This - Backyard Turtle

[Second Hand Pat]

Found this nice large girl in my backyard. Note the sand pile behind her.

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Note the rocking motion between the next two pictures.

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She is rocking back and forth as she uses her back feet to dig a hole for laying her eggs. She cups her back foot to remove the sand. I took her picture with a long lens so I did not get close and spook her. She was a nice large turtle.

[Lido]

Nice lookin turtle. It looks like an Eastern Box Turtle. They are really cool. She will lay a few more clutches, they usually lay a few of them scattered around and sometimes even dig false nests. That is really awesome, glad you caught some pics.

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks Lido, if you look a bit closer I think you will see this is actually a water turtle. Note the green and yellow striping on the shell.
Pat

[Lido]

Yeah, on a second look I think you're right. It may be a yellow bellied slider. The high dome on the shell threw me off. I thought the turtle just may have been wet from rain or something. I suppose the nose shape was a giveaway.

Still very cool to see.

[Second Hand Pat]

It appears to be a "Peninsula Cooter" but still researching.
Pat

[Second Hand Pat]

Or perhaps this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_plain_cooter.
Pat

[Phillydubs]

Thats awesome, I love turtle and always wanted to keep some but never have.

A friend of mine got married at a place and behind the desk they had a huge tank that was half full w big koi and water turtles, the top half had a bridge and stuff for the turtles to hang, was such a neat set up!

[Second Hand Pat]

Me too Phil. I kept turtles as a kid like most kids growing up in Florida. These days I am willing to watch and enjoy from afar
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Pat the key feature on the cooters in your area is the pattern on top of their heads... do you have any other shots that show it> "Pennisula" Cooter has a pattern that looks like hairpins on each side of the head. The "Coastal Plain" cooter aka "Florida" cooter, lacks the hairpin pattern and has small hollow circles on the margins of where the upper shell and lower shell meet. My guess based on the margins is "Pennisula" Cooter...either way its a Cool Cooter

al

[Discus-n00b]

Pat has all the cool critters lol Nice looking turtle. Have you thought about somehow marking the nest to watch it?

[Second Hand Pat]

Pat the key feature on the cooters in your area is the pattern on top of their heads... do you have any other shots that show it> "Pennisula" Cooter has a pattern that looks like hairpins on each side of the head. The "Coastal Plain" cooter aka "Florida" cooter, lacks the hairpin pattern and has small hollow circles on the margins of where the upper shell and lower shell meet. My guess based on the margins is "Pennisula" Cooter...either way its a Cool Cooter

al

Cooter must be a southern term lol. The best I can offer for a better id Al is a side profile. Not sure it will help.

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[Second Hand Pat]

Pat has all the cool critters lol Nice looking turtle. Have you thought about somehow marking the nest to watch it?

I was thinking it would be a cool idea to try and catch the little ones as they hatch and dig their way out of the nest Matt. Anyone know what a game camera runs?
Pat

[brewmaster15]

I was thinking it would be a cool idea to try and catch the little ones as they hatch and dig their way out of the nest Matt. Anyone know what a game camera runs?
Pat

good ones run several hundred dollars ..

[Second Hand Pat]

good ones run several hundred dollars ..

A bit of money to take a couple pics of baby turtles. Any idea on the incubation time Al?
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

You can get them cheap on Amazon, but like Al said for a decent one you will spend at LEAST $100, probably a couple as quality improves. My plan would just to try and time it.

When I was younger I got to see 2 Loggerhead Sea turtle nests hatch on the beach in NC. Was amazing.