Painted Turtle

Accounts and photos of non-captive reptiles in their natural habitat outside of South Africa. Try to record with your account details such as time of day/night, temperature, weather conditions, lunar cycle, sex, rough age of reptile, and so on.

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Painted Turtle

Postby croteseeker » Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:08 pm

Finally managed to photograph a new species in my neighborhood. These guys have been avoiding my lens for some time now. But it was warm and raining most of the day yesterday, so I figured I'd give them another shot. It took some work to sneak up close enough, but I got photos of two at medium to long range. The best photos were of this one. The second photo is at full zoom (30X), so you can probably imagine how easily-spooked these guys are.

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Image
Painted Turtle by crotalus_cerberus83, on Flickr

Image
Painted Turtle by crotalus_cerberus83, on Flickr

Thanks for looking, guys. :smt006
" a squat, scaly worm with, 'don't touch,' on one end and, 'that's why,' on the other."

-Thomas Palmer
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croteseeker
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Re: Painted Turtle

Postby Bushviper » Wed Aug 28, 2013 6:46 pm

Lovely specimen.
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Re: Painted Turtle

Postby levi_20 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:59 pm

Wow! Great photo's too, thanks.
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Re: Painted Turtle

Postby Westley Price » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:49 am

Nice man, seems like you have got some awesome stalking skills!

What a beautiful turtle, looks like a black racing car with flames painted on the hood!
"I am dying by inches from not having anybody to talk to about insects." - Charles Darwin
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Re: Painted Turtle

Postby croteseeker » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:26 pm

Thanks, fellas. I'm glad you liked the photos. Wish I could get some better shots of these guys.

Westley, before I moved here, I took great pride in my ninjabilities. :lol: Some of the places I find herps here, though, have put me to the ultimate test. Here's a photo of the swamp where these photos were shot, taken on an earlier trip.

Image
Sinkhole swamp by crotalus_cerberus83, on Flickr

This used to be a road, before a sinkhole opened up and formed a nice little swamp -one of the few good ones nearby that's on public land. I'm quickly learning that the problem with herping in swamps is that there's almost no way to move quietly. Off to the left of where this photo was taken is a tangled mass of fallen trees. To the right, it's knee-deep water choked with reeds. Once I can afford a lightweight canoe, I think my swamp photos will improve.

I agree with the race car comparison. They're fast and they do, indeed, appear to have a flamed paint job. I'm going to continue to try for some shots taken at a lower angle, as these photos do a poor job of illustrating their prettiest markings. Their plastron is bright yellow, and they have some incredible red and black markings where the carapace curves under their sides.
" a squat, scaly worm with, 'don't touch,' on one end and, 'that's why,' on the other."

-Thomas Palmer
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