The Blanding’s Turtle is very easily identified by its bright yellow throat. It is a medium sized turtle. This turtle also has a very unique shell because it is dome shaped and resembles an army helmet. The bottom of the shell also known as the plastron, is rich yellow and is concaved.
These turtles live in wetlands filled with lots of water plants and shallow water. Although they spend most of their time in water when it comes to finding a mate or a nesting site they can be found far away from the water’s edge. Hibernation occurs from late October until the end of April in the mud at the bottom of permanent bodies of water like a lake, bay or pond.
Did you know?
The size of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Blanding’s Turtle population is impossible to estimate accurately, as only limited data are available.
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It can take a female Blanding’s Turtle up to 25 years to mature. This long-lived species can survive in the wild for more than 75 years.
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Unlike other Ontario turtles, the bottom shell is hinged so that some Blanding’s Turtles can completely close their shell after pulling in their head and feet.
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The Blanding’s Turtle is a poor swimmer and normally walks along the lake bottom in search of food – aquatic insects, crustaceans, molluscs and vegetation.
– J. Pickering (2014)