{"id":5923,"date":"2010-04-15T21:34:28","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T02:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5923"},"modified":"2010-04-15T21:34:28","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T02:34:28","slug":"3-year-old-female-spotted-turtle-discovered-in-abandoned-southcoast-cranberry-bog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=5923","title":{"rendered":"3-Year-Old Female Spotted Turtle Discovered in Abandoned SouthCoast Cranberry Bog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cutie<\/a><\/p>\n

3-Year-Old Juvenile Female Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle Journal discovered an adorable three-year-old female spotted turtle basking on the water surface in an abandoned cranberry bog on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts.\u00c2\u00a0 As we patrolled the bog in search of mating spotted turtles mid-morning, we found instead this tiny juvenile.<\/p>\n

\"cutie<\/a><\/p>\n

John Adams Gold Dollar Vs 3-Year-Old Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“How tiny,” you may ask?\u00c2\u00a0 This cutie’s carapace\u00c2\u00a0measured only 6.28 centimeters (2\u00c2\u00bd inches)\u00c2\u00a0long and 5.37 centimeters (2.1 inches) wide.\u00c2\u00a0 Her plastron\u00c2\u00a0stretched 5.65 centimeters (2.2 inches) long and 3.615 centimeters (1.4 inch) wide behind the bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 She weighed 42 grams (1\u00c2\u00bd ounce).\u00c2\u00a0 The John Adams gold dollar coin gives a rough approximation of her size.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Examination of Juvenile Female Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We noted that this beauty sported a brightly colored orange neck, demonstrating the sexual dichromatic characteristic\u00c2\u00a0of the spotted turtle species.\u00c2\u00a0 Males show a drab gray or brown chin and turtleneck.<\/p>\n

\"cutie<\/a><\/p>\n

3-Year-Old Juvenile Female Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our sweet young female had two scutal anomalies on her carapace.\u00c2\u00a0 The third vertebral showed a split in the upper left corner and she had five right costals instead of the normal four.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Clumsy Juvenile Spotted Turtle Released<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another trait she shared with other spotted turtles that we have documented re-entering the bog after release was clumsiness.\u00c2\u00a0 We often watch as spotted turtles tumble and somersault down the bog bank, often tripping head over heal before entry into the water.\u00c2\u00a0 Today proved no exception to the rule.<\/p>\n

\"cutie<\/a><\/p>\n

3-year-Old Juvenile Female Spotted Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle Journal is always pleased to find new recruits\u00c2\u00a0to an isolated turtle population.\u00c2\u00a0 We are especially pleased to find one so cute as this gorgeous three-year-old female, a turtle that offers hope for the future of this small population (a dozen or so) of spotted turtles in an old cranberry bog that has been abandoned for more than a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3-Year-Old Juvenile Female Spotted Turtle Turtle Journal discovered an adorable three-year-old female spotted turtle basking on the water surface in an abandoned cranberry bog on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts.\u00c2\u00a0 As we patrolled the bog in search of mating spotted turtles mid-morning, we found instead this tiny juvenile. John Adams Gold Dollar Vs 3-Year-Old Spotted Turtle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5923"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5949,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions\/5949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}