rescued a painted?
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 1:14 pmA few days ago I rescued a turtle from my neighbors back yard. (The neighbor was mowing the lawn). I saw him sticking his head up, looking around, so I went and scooped him up. It was definitely a male, had long claws. The shell was so pretty with a little bit of dark red swirl in it, and a little red on the bottom edges. I'm guessing it was a "painted" turtle. It wasn't real bright, but pretty. He had dark skin with yellow stripe markings. Does anyone have an opinion what species he was? He was about the size of a full grown male RES. He must have walked up from the little stream that runs in the back of our properties. He had what looked like a perfect "bite" out of the edge of his shell. It looked like an old wound that healed, and it doesn't seem to have any ill affect on him. I took him back to the water and he was happy to go home. We have a "resident" baby alligator in a pond near by. That sure can account for the bite out of the shell. I've rescued turtles before that were crossing the roads. I always feel good when I get them to safety. 
He sounds vaguely like a painted, but given that you're from Fla, a picture of him would have been much more telling.
Hope this year is a better one...
I think that is a sign of a very compassionate person, when you can stop what you're doing to help another creature in need without any expectation of reward or gratitude. That's also really cool that you have a resident 'gator nearby! I would love to live down there with all the reptilian wildlife, but I can't stand the heat and humidity!