After photographing some impressive turtle logjams, I walked across the bridge spanning the inlet to the heron bay.  And there beneath me was this fuzzy turtle.

OK, it’s just a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) with algae on its shell, but doesn’t it look all cuddly and cute with that green coif?

The interesting bit is that turtles come out of winter hibernation with algae, then it clears off as they spend more time out of the water soaking up sunshine.  But then when it gets hot—like summer hot—the algae starts to grow back because they spend less time out of the water.

It’s like a seasonal wig.