Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, Prospect Park. 2007-05-25
These are common in Prospect Park and other New York area parks. They’re not native. The colonies are all the results of released pets. These cute little guys grow into much larger turtles, and turtles just can’t hold a child’s interest as long as a dog or cat.
In many places, they’re crowding out the native turtles. I rarely see any other turtle species in Prospect Park these days.
I found this one standing on the sidewalk:
The pattern of spots on the bottom of the shell is distinctive:
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