Turtle Journal

The Adorable Couple: Basking Spotted Turtles

Turtle Journal discovered this lovely pair of spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) on March 14th.  The male turtle #2003 on the left and the female turtle #13 on the right were basking in the filtered sunshine on a mossy bank of the small pond at Brainard Marsh in Marion.  As early as March 8th, Sue Wieber Nourse had glimpsed this couple lazing along the edge of the pond, yet they were so entangled in muck and debris that they were impossible to capture.  Basking on the land today, however, they afforded Sue just the chance she needed to snare them in our long-handle sampling net.

Examining the Female Spotted Turtle

Back at Turtle Journal Central, we closely examined the female turtle that we had first encountered in the pouring rain on March 29th, 2010.  (See Spotted Turtles Lovin’ in the Rain.)  We wanted to see how she had come through brumation during this record warm winter.  We also wanted to re-examine the bump on the right side of her vertebral.  As demonstrated in this examination, she exhibits gorgeous coral orange female coloration on her neck and chin.

Female Spotted Turtle Weighs 218 Grams

Female spotted turtle #13 weighed in at 218 grams, surprisingly light compared to her smaller and more compact male companion that tipped the scales at 211 grams.  We speculate that her larger, more hollow frame will accommodate the need for egg development, which should begin next month.

Female Spotted Turtle Carapace Anomalies

Spotted turtle #13 has easily recognizable scutal anomalies on her carapace.  She sports seven rather than five vertebral scutes and five rather than four right costal scutes.  Her prominent bump on the right side of her penultimate vertebral scute showed no change from two years ago.

Female Spotted Turtle – Male Spotted Turtle

Having the adorable couple, female #13 (left) and male #2003 (right), together presented an excellent opportunity to illustrate gender differences among spotted turtles.  As you can see from the picture above, female #13 has washboard flat “abs” on her plastron, while male #2003 shows the typical male concavity in the center posterior of his plastron.  For those like us who enjoy tracing the history of these charismatic critters, male #2003 was first observed on March 18th, 2011.  (See First Spotted Turtle of 2011.)  His measurements and weight today were identical to those recorded last year.

Female Spotted Turtle — Male Spotted Turtle

Two other gender differences are illustrated, at least partially, in the image above.  Female #13 is on the left.  She shows the beautiful, bright female coral orange coloration at the bottom of her chin and on her neck.  Although male #2003 was too shy to show his head for the picture on the right, he had a drab male grayish color on his chin and neck.  Easier to distinguish above, female #13 has a thin tail with the anal vent inside the length of her carapace.  Male #2003 sports a large, thick tail with the anal vent outside the length of his carapace. 

Female Spotted #13 Leads Male Spotted #2003 Back to Pond

After a short diversion with the Turtle Journal team for a quick checkup and a chance to add to our knowledge of these exquisite, yet elusive critters, the adorable couple were released back at the exact spot along the banks of the Brainard Marsh pond.  The temperature had dropped into the very low 40s, enough to make any sane thinking turtle a bit sluggish.  As soon as female #13 got her bearings, she stomped off to the pond, struggled out about 20 feet toward the center and submerged into the oozy bottom.  Male #2003 stubbornly clung to his perch on the mossy patch until he was sure that his female companion had safely tested the waters.  He then slid down the bank with a thud and immediately dove into the shoreline muck and debris.  Turtle Journal salutes the adorable couple and thanks them for their mid March visit.

Gopher Tortoise Surveys Vanderbilt Beach

Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) along the Gulf Coast of Naples, Florida occupy some of the richest, most coveted terrain in the world.  Digging burrows in the shadow of towering waterfront highrises, Vanderbilt Beach tortoises live on the jagged edge of luxury and extinction.  No matter how loudly humans declare fascination with exotic wildlife, they can’t seem to tolerate neighbors that restrict unbridled development of every inch of shoreline.

Vanderbilt Beach at Sunrise

A late February morning finds Turtle Journal catching the sunrise on Vanderbilt beach in Naples as we explore Gulf Coast fauna and check out the few remaining tortoise burrows wedged precariously between luxury condo skyscrapers. 

Gopher Tortoise Competing for Ritzy Domain

Recognizing a kindred spirit, a male golpher tortoise strolls out to meet the Turtle Journal team.  Near 80-degree warmth has piqued his interest in exploring his surroundings for food and … of course … love.  As burrows are displaced by development, the challenge of finding a mate grows more difficult.  As the human urge to “control” and “neaten” natural vegetation around the burrows, foraging too becomes more difficult.

Male Gopher Tortoise

This young healthy male measured about 12 inches long …

Male Gopher Tortoise Carapace

… from nuchal at the tip of his domed carapace to the rear.  A few, maybe ten, annual growth rings can still be discerned in his costal scutes, but most annuli have been obscured by wear and tear.

Male Gopher Tortoise Plastron

The maleness of a gopher tortoise can be identified by concavity … hard to verify in the above two-dimensional photograph … in the center posterior of his plastron and by the gular protrusion at the plastron anterior under his chin.

Humans Remove “Invasive” Vegetation around Burrows

During Turtle Journal’s February 2012 inspection of Vanderbilt habitat, we noticed that people had begun to clear vegetation from around these tortoise burrows.  When asked what they were doing, workers said that they were removing “invasive” vegetation.  While we can’t and don’t dispute this claim, the clearing did seem more global than targeted against specific species.  We wonder how tortoises will fare on these largely denuded sites and hope that seasonal growth will quickly restore forage.

Tortoise Disturbed Crossing Beach “Highway”

Another challenge confronting these gentle reptiles on the Gulf Coast is the constant vehicular traffic along the luxury beachfront.  Whether “sweeping” sandy beaches clear of natural wrack each morning or simply racing up and down Vanderbilt Beach in a frentic effort to emulate Indy car drivers, humans disturb roaming tortoises with motion, noise and tire ruts.

 

Vanderbilt Beach Gopher Tortoise

Turtle Journal cherishes its visit with Florida’s gopher tortoises each winter and hopes that these humble reptiles can survive the insatiable human appetite to monopolize the Gulf Coast beach.

Female Painted Turtle Basking on Goldwitz Bog Rock

A mild winter, a southerly breeze and 60 degree temperature enticed fresh water turtles in the Great White North to emerge from brumation to kick off the 2012 Turtle Year in Coastal Massachusetts.  Yesterday, with temps creeping into the high 50s, Turtle Journal inspected “the usual haunts” where fresh water turtles on the South Coast first emerge from winter slumber.  The Goldwitz Bog in Marion is the place that painted turtles are usually first found basking in mid-March; Brainard Marsh in East Marion holds a small, shallow pond where the first spotted turtles are normally seen each year.  Yet, yesterday not a turtle was seen.

Female Painted Turtle Basking in Goldwitz Bog

This morning, however, persistence paid dividends.  The first painted turtle of 2012, a large beautiful female, had crawled onto a large rock in the retaining pond of the abandoned Goldwitz Cranberry Bog.  March 8th is the earliest date we have recorded for painted turtle emergence on the South Coast.

Spotted Turtle Snorkeling in Brainard Marsh

With the painted turtle sighting under its belt, Turtle Journal slipped across town to Brainard Marsh to check for spotted turtles.  They are normally first seen basking on the mossy bank of the shallow fresh water pond.  The bank was empty and it looked at first sight that spotteds had not yet emerged from brumation.  Standing quietly on edge of the pond, Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse discovered two spotted turtles hiding under water and camouflaged near the bottom.

Spotted Turtle Surfaces for Air in Brainard Marsh

One curious turtle straddled a subsurface log to get a good view of Sue.  This spotted snatched a quick breath and quickly disappeared under the oozy leaf matter at the bottom of the pond.  As with painted turtles, March 8th is the earliest record of emergence that we have in our database for the South Coast.