What's the biggest painted turtle you've ever seen?

[Deleted]

This one takes the cake for me. It was coming from the river, heading towards my wetlands when I spotted it this morning. I think it stopped to snack on the mullberries

Anyway, this thing was huge by my standards.

[Deleted]

[hunt4it]

Very interesting shell shape on the back side.  All of the ones I've seen have a smooth edge all the way around.  Was it injured?  We have a Map turtle as well as a Paint for a pet here.  Found them when they just came out of the ground (still had dirt on their shells) and now they are 4 years old and have distinctive personalities.  Great post CJ 

[hogkiller]

Jul 6, 2015 14:48:34 GMT -5 hunt4it said:

Very interesting shell shape on the back side.  All of the ones I've seen have a smooth edge all the way around.  Was it injured?  We have a Map turtle as well as a Paint for a pet here.  Found them when they just came out of the ground (still had dirt on their shells) and now they are 4 years old and have distinctive personalities.  Great post CJ 

hunt4it,,i was holding it for the pics and checking that out. Those shapes on the backside of the shell seemed to wear marks from it's legs by the way they were shaped,,,that easily could have been 20-30 year old painted buy it's size.

[hunt4it]

Jul 6, 2015 19:17:01 GMT -5 hogkiller said:

Jul 6, 2015 14:48:34 GMT -5 hunt4it said:

Very interesting shell shape on the back side.  All of the ones I've seen have a smooth edge all the way around.  Was it injured?  We have a Map turtle as well as a Paint for a pet here.  Found them when they just came out of the ground (still had dirt on their shells) and now they are 4 years old and have distinctive personalities.  Great post CJ 

hunt4it,,i was holding it for the pics and checking that out. Those shapes on the backside of the shell seemed to wear marks from it's legs by the way they were shaped,,,that easily could have been 20-30 year old painted buy it's size.

 
Wow...never thought of the wearing.  Thanks for the info and sharing hogkiller!

[hunt4it]

Thought I would share with you guys something that my family has been doing every spring for years that I don't share with many people.  There is a residential area in my town that is utilized as a nesting area for both Paint and Map turtles.  Depending on when the eggs are laid and how soon the temps drop in the fall, determines whether or not that years eggs hatch or if they "Hold over" until the next spring.  There are significant numbers of casualties, both newborns and adults, due to people either being @($&^Holes and running over the adults or not seeing the little ones due to them being the size of quarters, natural predators, lawnmowers, etc.  In this areas around Memorial Day, we take a drive and if we find a newborn, we help them along and take them to the river to increase their chance of survival.  Pic below was taken on June 7th of a few that we helped and released this year.  They were so fresh out of the ground that they all still had dirt on their shells.  We are just trying to help Mother Nature in any way we can.  Thank for letting me share my little story. 

 
This is a 2 1/2 gallon bucket.

[nytrapper23]

That's cool hunt4it, karma to you. Every year at work we have baby snapping turtles get caught in our fresh water inlet, we always rescue as many as we can and put them back into the ponds.

[hunt4it]

Jul 9, 2015 15:50:45 GMT -5 nytrapper23 said:

That's cool hunt4it, karma to you. Every year at work we have baby snapping turtles get caught in our fresh water inlet, we always rescue as many as we can and put them back into the ponds.

Karma back at you sir for helping them Snappers.  Iconic turtle!