March 30 2006 Pinewood Elementary 007
Originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.
My First Spotted Turtle Sighting
It’s almost 12pm and I decide to see if any rattlesnakes are making their presence known on such a warm sunny spring day. So I head for massasauga trail. No snakes, but I hear wood frogs chuckling(some say quacking) and western chorus frogs and spring peeper(frogs) just “singing” away in the small vernal(tempory) pond. I’m trying to take a picture of one of these 1 inch long frogs species but I can’t find any. Then I look down at my feet and right there is a 5 to 6 inch long spotted turtle almost touching my left shoe. This is the first spotted turtle that I’ve ever seen in the wild! Pretty cool!
State Threatened Species
I understand that the spotted and blanding turtles love these vernal ponds in the early spring. Spotted turtles are protected by Michigan law and are on the state’s threatened species list.
