Camp Creature: The Painted Turtle

Muncher hanging out in a bucket
on tank-cleaning day.

Raise your hand if you know the name of Camp Foley's Painted Turtle! Well, even if you didn't raise your hand our shout out, "MUNCHER!" no worries. Today, I'm going to share with you all the fun facts about Painted Turtles, a native turtle to our area.

First of all, let me tell you something super cool: Fossils show that the Painted Turtle existed 15 million years ago! Amazing! Also, the Painted Turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It can be found from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The most common place we see the Painted Turtle at Foley is over in Hidden Lake because it enjoys fresh waters with soft bottoms, shallow waters, slow-moving currents, basking sites and aquatic vegetation. Those factors make Hidden Lake the perfect home for the turtles.

There are actually four types of Painted Turtles:

Norm meets a Painted Turtle!

• Eastern Painted Turtle: This turtle ranges from five to seven inches long. It's upper shell is olive green to black and it may have a pale stripe down the middle with red markings. The segments of the shell have pale edges and occur in straight rows across its back. This segment pattern is unlike all other North American turtles.
• Midland Painted Turtle: This turtle has a dark, symmetrical shadow in the center of its bottom shell that varies in size and prominence. It ranges from four to 10 inches long.
• Southern Painted Turtle: This is the smallest of the Painted turtles - only four to six inches long. Its top shell has a red line running down the middle, and its bottom shall is tan.
• Western Painted Turtle: This is the type of Painted Turtle we see in at camp, and the type of Painted Turtle that Muncher is. It's top shell has a mesh-like pattern of light lines. It's bottom shell has a large colored splotch that spreads to the edges and often has a red hue. The Western Painted Turtle can grow up to 10 inches long.

Painted Turtles basking on Hidden Lake.

As a cold-blooded reptile, the Painted Turtle regulates its body temperature though its environment, notably by basking. All ages bask for warmth - sometimes groups up to 50 turtles can be seen basking together. At Hidden Lake, we often see the Painted Turtles basking on logs. The Painted Turtle will spend the night perched underwater to sleep, and will wake at sunrise to emerge from the water and bask for several hours. Once it's warm enough for activity, it will take to the water to forage. It repeats this cycle two to three times each day in the warmer months. In the winter, it hibernates. Fun fact: during hibernation the Painted Turtle does not breathe! If its surroundings allow, it may take in oxygen through its skin. 

Our Painted Turtle's, the Western Painted Turtle, diet changes seasonally. In the early summer, 60% of its diet is insects, by late summer 55% is plants. The Painted Turtle is the diet to a few predators though, so it must be careful! Painted Turtles are most vulnerable when they are young. Nests are frequently ransacked and the eggs are eaten by garter snakes, crows, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, groundhogs, raccoon, badgers and fox. The small, bite-size hatchlings can fall pray to water bugs, bass, catfish, Snapping Turtles, snakes, herons, rice rats, weasels, muskats, minks and raccoon. As adults, the Painted Turtle is more protected with its shell, but they can fall prey to alligators, ospreys, crows, hawks, Bald Eagles and especially raccoon. 

Final Fun Fact: Painted Turtles can right themselves when they are flipped upside down!

Camp Creature – The Minnesota Snapping Turtle

Crikey! She's a keeper.

Today’s Camp Creature story is about a young Minnesota Snapping Turtle, who lived in the Camp office in 2012 and 2013.  It was found in the summer of 2012 down by the marina docks by Peter Beltz, a camp counselor.  We asked for help naming this fella, and the winning name was Bowser. Bowser lived up to his name, and got more "snappy" as he grew. Now he has been in the wild for the past 3 summers. Bowser is likely "dinner plate" sized and just loving the pond life. Let's refresh our knowledge on Snapping Turtles! 

What’s this creature all about?  The Snapping Turtle, or “Snapper,” is Minnesota’s largest turtle.  Most are brown, black or olive grey in color, have sharp clawed feet, and feature small spike-like ridges on the top of their shells.  Snapping turtles can live 30 years in the wild and typically grow to about nine to fourteen inches in size across the top of their shells.  In captivity they can live 47 years and weigh up to 86 pounds!  The largest snapping turtle ever found in the state measured nineteen and a half inches and was nicknamed “Minnesota Fats.” 

Counselor Jordan Anderson poses with
a full grown snapper (Summer 2012).

Snapping turtles have long, snake-like necks and powerful beak-like jaws that are used to snare food and protect themselves.  These jaws are important because unlike most turtle species, an adult snapping turtle can’t fully withdraw its head to protect itself from predators – its lower shell is too small.  Adult snapping turtles can be aggressive when confronted on land; they will often hiss and “snap” their jaws at animals they consider to be a threat, which is how they got their name.  They have been known to bite humans on land, when threatened, and their bites can be painful.  However, snapping turtles are rarely aggressive when underwater, which is where they prefer to spend most of their time.  Most will simply swim away rather than risk any kind of contact.

As stated above, our Camp Foley pal began to dislike being handled, thus prompting our Nature instructor to release Bowser into the wild. Now being between four and five years old, he is almost a "mature" adult. So long as he made it through his first couple winters, his list of predators is at a low and he is able to thrive. We are confident Bowser is still at large and on the right path to someday become Hidden Lake's largest snapper! 

A Common Snapping Turtle surfacing for air on
Whitefish Lake (Photo by Camp Director Alli Faricy)

As an omnivore, snapping turtles eat both plants and animals.  They hunt frogs, small fish and snakes and will eat dead creatures too.  In fact, snappers have even been spotted eating small birds and mammals.  These turtles require water-pressure in order to be able to swallow, so they always feed underwater. 

Adults rarely leave the water except to lay eggs or bask in the sun on a rock or log during the Spring.  Because the snapping turtle’s nostrils are on the very tip of its nose, it can simply poke the very edge of its nose up above the surface of the water to breathe, keeping most of its head and body hidden beneath the water from potential predators.

Like all reptiles, the snapping turtle is cold-blooded.  To survive our Minnesota winters, it typically buries itself in the mud at the bottom of a pond, river, or lake from October through March.  

Come spring, remember to drive slow and help a turtle in need! 

(for more info on the Minnesota Snapping Turtle, check out these links)

Minnesota Herpetology
Minnesota DNR