Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have so many turtles right now I decided I wouldnt keep any more unless it was extra-special, and sure enough I just found one. He appears to be a cooter yearling but with orange "ears", a slightly jagged shell and black spots on the plastron. The adult RES I saw in the lake last year was only the second Ive ever seen wild here in VA, so the question of whether theyre really native is much in doubt. There are hundreds of turtles here so I hope this doesnt represent a trend. If you count this one as a RES I now have all 8 species found in this county.

Len

RES are probably an introduced species. Trey have taken over a lot of non native locations. If not, there would probably be many more. If there's only the 2 of them, you might still be able to get rid of them before they take over.

>>I have so many turtles right now I decided I wouldnt keep any more unless it was extra-special, and sure enough I just found one. He appears to be a cooter yearling but with orange "ears", a slightly jagged shell and black spots on the plastron. The adult RES I saw in the lake last year was only the second Ive ever seen wild here in VA, so the question of whether theyre really native is much in doubt. There are hundreds of turtles here so I hope this doesnt represent a trend. If you count this one as a RES I now have all 8 species found in this county.
>>
>>Len