Our critter du jour at the cottage this weekend was a
Midland Painted Turtle*!
He was very cute and a little aggressive. I think he was charging at me as I was snapping his picture. Very. Slowly. Charging. Maybe he dislikes paparazzi? Look at those beady little eyes staring me down!
The Captain took pity on him and decided to cart the little dude down to the water's edge. Turtle Man was having no part of this and kept skittering away as the Captain bent down to grab him. Very entertaining.
Eventually he was apprehended and carried down to the shore where he sat in his shell briefly before bolting into the water.
The kids were a little amazed at how quickly he could move, being a turtle and all. Still. It's probably just as well they've hung this elaborate "Turtle Crossing" sign at the marina.
* Now, before you go thinking that I'm some turtle-identifying Mensa genius, I should let you know that I Googled "Ontario turtle" and scoured a few pictures until I found one that looked like him.
It turns out the photo was on the
Turtle Tally page for the "
Adopt-A-Pond" program run by the Toronto Zoo! They encourage everyday average normal guys like you and me to report turtle (and Frog) sightings. They use the information collected to track the locations and species of turtles and learn more about distributions in Ontario. Neat!
I dutifully reported our little turtle friend and at the same time, signed up to receive the Turtle Tally kit, which includes some turtle identifying literature, frogwatch stuff, and some fridge magnets. WooHoo! Turtle SWAG! The kids should enjoy that. Report your frogs and turtles!
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