The painted turtle next to the Red Wolf Exhibit covers up her nest. The yellow-bellied was in Catch the Wind next to the Sailboat Pond. The painted turtle was first spotted by Animal Keeper Mikey as he made his rounds on the morning of May 20 near the Red Wolf Exhibit. The two nests that I observed were in the process of being covered up by the turtles as I came upon them. This is Chip as she basks in the sun on March 16 of this year. She deposited her eggs on June 7, a few weeks after the others. Her preference was a mulched area between two pine trees next to the Meadow in Catch the Wind. She was observed dropping her eggs as Kristin sat nearby watching her. The egg-laying turtle, observed by Kristin, is well known to many of us at the Museum, a large chunk of her carapace is damaged making for easy identification wherever she wanders. One turtle was actually observed in the act of laying her eggs. Two were Yellow-bellied Sliders and one, an Eastern Painted Turtle. Three such nests were observed this past spring by either myself or Ranger Kristin. The arrow points to a painted turtle nest near the Red Wolf Exhibit. When looking for nest sites turtles most often choose sites alongside roads, paths or mulched planting beds, at least that’s where they’re most often observed laying eggs here at the Museum. They were looking for suitable nest sites. Aquatic turtles of various species were up and walking along the paths and woods of the Museum’s outdoor exhibits, in fact, they could be seen throughout the entire Museum grounds. Above: Female yellow-bellied slider looks to see if it’s safe to come ashore to lay eggs.

What happend to the tmnt