WATER TURTLES 
PAINTED TURTLE 
Daubed by nature with gaudy yet pleasing colors this small pond turtle is 
acclaimed as the prettiest of all. It has a six-inch top shell of black or deep 
olive, often trimmed with a yellow border on the front margin of each plate, 
and yellow stripes along its throat. The lower shell is also of rich yellow 
hue; the limbs, tail and marginal plates connecting the two shells are 
splotched a brilliant red. 
Despite its flashy clothes, the painted turtle is a shy little creature. 
One of its favorite pleasures is to sun itself on a fallen trunk in the pond, 
and sometimes groups of them, lined up like a row of soldiers, will take 
possession of a floating log. 
But if someone approaches, they drop back into the water and swim 
down to the bottom. They will return to their sun bath only after recon- 
noitering assures them that the coast is clear. 
The painted turtle crawls through the thick grass on the banks, and 
therefore its lustre may be somewhat dimmed by a coating of mud. Along 
the shore and in the water, it picks up such food as moss, insects, small 
fishes and tadpoles. 
The flesh of the painted turtle may be eaten, but because of its small 
size the turtle has no commercial value. This removes one source of danger, 
but it still has such enemies as skunks, weasels, crows and birds of prey. 
Against them it will put up a frantic yet ineffectual struggle. 
In June it lays from five to eight soft, elliptical eggs. The painted turtle 
begins to lay eggs at the age of eleven. Thoreau wrote an interesting account 
of his first-hand observations of a female going through this process. He 
stooped so that his face was little more than a foot from Mrs. Turtle, who, 
unconcerned about Thoreau, proceeded with her task. 
She stopped by a pitch pine and began to dig a hole with her hind feet, 
resting her body on the forelegs. In a few minutes a small hole about two 
inches deep was excavated. Then the eggs were dropped in and, without 
turning to look at them, she separated them one from the other with her 
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