Hi, my name is Anthony. I'm not a turtle guy, but I'm hoping you all can help me with an ID and tell me whether I need to try to recapture this turtle. Here's the pic:
(I have a few more if this doesn't help.)
The story goes like this... I leave for work this morning, pull out onto the main road, and see this turtly hanging over the edge of the curb. I have to drive down the hill to turn around, but by the time I come back up and park in my driveway again, he (or she) is already in the road. I run over, pick him up, and run back to the house, tell my wife to get a box. I'm already late for work, I'm wearing a suit, but I figure he is probably from the small stream on the other side of our neighbor's property. Problems is I can't get to it... it is down a hill, into a wooded area... and on private property for neighbors I know, but not well enough that I'm going to go walking on their property. So I figure there is a pond around the corner and I see turtles, frogs, fish in it all the time. Even has a beaver in it... so I run him down there and release him.
I honestly never considered that it could be a non-native turtle. Now I'm worried it is a yellow footed turtle, just comparing it to some pics from a Google image search. Sounds like they don't do well in cold, and this is Maryland... wasn't cold last winter, but the two before that were awful.
So now I feel like an idiot. If this had happened on a weekend, I would have had more time to think about what to do. I just assumed it was a native turtle that got way out of its habitat down in the stream (we've had tons of rain lately, including last night.) I suppose a life in the pond for the next 5 or 6 months is better than getting run over by a car today (which most surely would have happened since idiots race down that road in the morning). But if I can fix this, I want to try. The pond is just around the corner, and I can stop out there every couple of days to try to re-capture this turtle, take it to wildlife rehab, or whatever you recommend. And if you tell me it will be fine in a pond in Marlyand over the winter, well, then that's great.
Any help would be appreciated...
Thanks,
Ant
(I have a few more if this doesn't help.)
The story goes like this... I leave for work this morning, pull out onto the main road, and see this turtly hanging over the edge of the curb. I have to drive down the hill to turn around, but by the time I come back up and park in my driveway again, he (or she) is already in the road. I run over, pick him up, and run back to the house, tell my wife to get a box. I'm already late for work, I'm wearing a suit, but I figure he is probably from the small stream on the other side of our neighbor's property. Problems is I can't get to it... it is down a hill, into a wooded area... and on private property for neighbors I know, but not well enough that I'm going to go walking on their property. So I figure there is a pond around the corner and I see turtles, frogs, fish in it all the time. Even has a beaver in it... so I run him down there and release him.
I honestly never considered that it could be a non-native turtle. Now I'm worried it is a yellow footed turtle, just comparing it to some pics from a Google image search. Sounds like they don't do well in cold, and this is Maryland... wasn't cold last winter, but the two before that were awful.
So now I feel like an idiot. If this had happened on a weekend, I would have had more time to think about what to do. I just assumed it was a native turtle that got way out of its habitat down in the stream (we've had tons of rain lately, including last night.) I suppose a life in the pond for the next 5 or 6 months is better than getting run over by a car today (which most surely would have happened since idiots race down that road in the morning). But if I can fix this, I want to try. The pond is just around the corner, and I can stop out there every couple of days to try to re-capture this turtle, take it to wildlife rehab, or whatever you recommend. And if you tell me it will be fine in a pond in Marlyand over the winter, well, then that's great.
Any help would be appreciated...
Thanks,
Ant
