Tag Archives: Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana)

A few of my favorite things #9

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Turtles.  All sorts of turtles.  Because turtles are cool, especially if you can get them to sit still long enough to capture a respectable photo.

Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana) perched on a log (2009_02_01_005696)
Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) sunning on a debris pile (2009_03_08_012937)
Female river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) building a nest (2009_06_07_022723)
Male three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) sitting in the middle of a trail (IMG_2082)
Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) crossing a dirt road (IMG_2257)
Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) on the side of the road (IMG_2447)

That last photo gives me the willies.  Why?  Here, take a closer look.

Close-up of a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) with mosquitoes covering its head (IMG_2444_c)

By my count, there are six mosquitoes visible on this side alone.  What about the other side?

Worse still, other than retracting its head and hoping for the best, what defense does a turtle have when it comes to mosquitoes?  From this image, I’d say none.  And boy does that make me itch.

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Photos:

  1. Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana) perched on a log
  2. Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) sunning on a debris pile
  3. Female river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) building a nest
  4. Male three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) sitting in the middle of a trail
  5. Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) crossing a dirt road
  6. Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) on the side of the road
  7. Close-up of a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) with mosquitoes covering its head

Never eat more than you can lift

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Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.
— Samuel Butler

A great egret (Ardea alba) perched on a log with two Texas river cooters (Pseudemys texana) sunning nearby (2009_06_21_024660)

As I processed that photo of a great egret (Ardea alba) perched on a log with a couple of Texas river cooters (Pseudemys texana), I giggled at the thought of the egret trying to munch on one of the turtles.  Obviously the size of the reptiles would prohibit that.  But the same could not be said of a small turtle I watched become breakfast for a yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea).

A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) trying to eat a small turtle (20080722_09794)

Along the bank of one of the nearby creeks, a bit of movement caught my eye.  It was the night-heron trying to eat something.  I couldn’t quite determine what was in its beak.

A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) trying to eat a small turtle (20080722_09800)

The bird dipped it in the water, bludgeoned it against a rock, tossed it to and fro, and appeared to be resigned to not eating it since it couldn’t break it open.

A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) trying to eat a small turtle (20080722_09812)

It was at this point that I got a better look at the food and realized it was a small turtle.  Here’s a crop of that image.

A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) holding a small turtle in its beak (20080722_09812_c)

You can see the legs sticking out and the head hanging down, though the whole thing is covered with mud and identifying marks are obscured.  Still, it was definitely a turtle.

It seemed too large to swallow whole, and the bird had struggled with it for several minutes such that I felt certain it would give up.  After all the banging and washing, the carapace remained intact.  Unless the heron could pull the flesh from the shell by the dangling bits, it seemed breakfast would not be served this day.

But then…

A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) swallowing a small turtle (20080722_09813)
A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) swallowing a small turtle (20080722_09814)
A yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) swallowing a small turtle (20080722_09815)

In one swift move, down it went.  The whole turtle.  Shell and all.

After which the heron turned, took a drink of water, and proceeded to look quite satisfied.

Close-up of a yellow-crowned night-heron (Nyctanassa violacea) (20080722_09852)

It stood around for a while after that.  I’d probably need a rest, too, if I’d spent all that time and energy trying to break open breakfast only to swallow something as hard as a brick lest I be forced to give up the entire meal.

I was left to wonder how long it would take to digest the intact turtle.  And some time later, I was left to giggle at the thought of that scene as I watched the egret and its turtle companions.

Logjams

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Like bumper-to-bumper rush hour in Dallas.

A pallid spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera pallida) on the right end of the log with red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) and river cooters (Pseudemys sp. or spp.) (2009_06_06_022407)

Even if temperatures are cool bordering on cold, a sunny day brings the turtles out en masse.  Any perch above the water becomes a turtle logjam.

A pallid spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera pallida) and some red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) and what might be a river cooter (Pseudemys sp.) (2009_06_06_022407_c)

The species can be quite diverse, from softshells to cooters to sliders to anything else that finds room.

A pallid spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera pallida) on the left, one obvious red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) atop another turtle, and what could be either red-eared sliders or river cooters (Pseudemys sp.) (2009_06_21_024632)

And when there’s no more room on the log, there’s always room to climb atop another turtle.

A Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana) on the right, an eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) in the middle and a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) on the left (2009_10_17_031943)

Everyone gets along if everyone gets some sunshine.

A baby red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) sunning atop an adult (2009_06_21_024674)

And if you’re lucky, you can find synchronized sunning like this pair, both of whom have their back legs stretched out and their heads held up.

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Photos:

[1] A pallid spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera pallida) on the right end of the log with red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) and river cooters (Pseudemys sp. or spp.).

[2] A crop of the first image, hence the poor quality.  Shows a better view of the pallid spiny softshell turtle and some of the red-eared sliders; the turtle nearest the softshell might be a river cooter (Pseudemys sp.).

[3] A pallid spiny softshell turtle on the left, one obvious red-eared slider atop another turtle, and what could be either red-eared sliders or river cooters.

[4] A Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana) on the right, an eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) in the middle and a red-eared slider on the left.  Also note the red-eared slider in the lower-left corner of the frame.  (The water and turtles are covered with duckweed.)

[5] A baby red-eared slider resting atop an adult.

Note that differentiating the eastern river cooter from the Texas river cooter can be impossible without a clear view of the head pattern and shell pattern, and even then variability can lead to poor identifications.  Red-eared sliders can be confused with either species if the red patches are not visible.

Some male red-eared sliders become melanistic as they grow older; this causes their skin to lose all colors except green and the green becomes darker as they age, hence they can be difficult to identify from a distance (see the first photo in this post for an example where the “red ears” have been reduced to negligible red spots and all the yellow has been lost).