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Is anyone else familiar with calling red-ear sliders "mutton-chop cooters" or is that more of a regional/local thing?

Must be local, I've never heard of it before.

Me neither. Where does that name come from ? I'm curious !

I've mostly heard it on the West Coast, but I've heard it in Oklahoma also.

Being raised on a farm as a kid my gramps/granny had all kind of stories of different animals in mass numbers migrating through the fields. Aquatic and land turtles also looking for new homes. Especially when the river came out it's banks. The young new plants would be cut down/ eaten and farmers had all kind of names and sayings for this. Some not so nice . Who knows , could be more than just a story to get us to go to bed. May be one of those names that just stuck around locally.