Date: 3/13/25 6:18 am From: 'PAUL ROBERTS' via Arlington Birds <arlingtonbirds...> Subject: Re: [Arlington Birds] Red-Tails in love and war
Hi Ram, Neither of the turtles you photographed are snapping turtles. They also are not babies, but at the very least yearlings. Small, they like to sit in the sun to recover from their winter hibernation. Look up painted turtles and similar species. Snapping turtles have a very distinctive shell, and "giant' mamma snappers emerge from ponds and streams in late spring to lay eggs that are "incubated" by the warm earth. That is when you see huge turtles crossing roads everywhere, with many carcasses on Route 2 and other high-speed 2-4 lane highways. The young hatch in early summer and migrate to streams to feed and grow. If you see a large snapper and want to remove it from the road, it must be handled very carefully because they can and do bite. Best, Paul Paul M. Roberts Medford, MA <phawk254...>
