Colorful Observer

In the course of following the monarch at the park on Thursday, I looked down to be sure I wasn’t about to step into the water at the edge of the pond. Sure enough, my toe was at the edge. And looking up at me was a darling young painted turtle. He cautiously watched me as I photographed him, and I was sure he would tuck his head in at any moment once the kids came over. But he stayed right there, just basking and watching.
Finally, my husband came along as well, and the little turtle must have felt there were just too many of us. He quickly sought deeper water. (And I thought turtles were supposed to be slow!) I don’t really know much about turtles, but this one sure was pretty. Hmm, time to learn something new—I love that!

I learned that there are at least four sub-species of the painted turtle, but the only one found in Ohio is the Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata). Like all hard-shell turtle species in Ohio, the sex of the individual is determined by the temperature at which they develop in the egg. For example, the Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife states that snapping turtle eggs kept at about 77° Fahrenheit will produce male hatchlings, while eggs that are kept at higher or lower temps will all produce females. Placement of the eggs in the nest will often determine this in the wild. The warmest eggs at the top of the nest will hatch as females while the cooler eggs near the bottom will be closer to the right temperature to produce males. Fascinating!
This next part was a surprise to me and I’m rather glad I didn’t know it at the time so I didn’t have to listen to endless choruses of “Can we keep him, Mom? Ple-easssse!” Residents of Ohio are permitted to own up to four individuals of a non-threatened reptile or amphibian species without a license. (Interested Ohioans can check out the ODNR website for a list of qualifying species. Once they reach a certain size, reptiles must be tagged with a transponder [available from the DNR for $10].) Personally, I think it’s better to leave wild things in the wild anyway. What do you think?