Red-eared Slider

Trachemys scripta elegans

Description:

An urban Red-eared slider basking in a lake in Brooklyn, New York's Prospect Park. Like all ectothermic reptiles, basking turtles like this one rely on their environment to control their body temperature. By stretching out its limbs, this turtle is maximizing the surface area for thermoregulation.

Habitat:

Spotted in an urban park in Brooklyn. Red-eared sliders survive and thrive in most freshwater habitats, and have become invasive species in many parts of the world where they out-compete native species.

Notes:

As anyone who has attempted to get good photographs of basking turtles knows, they are quite skittish and dive into the water at the slightest noise. However, in habitats like zoos and city parks, basking turtles get accustomed to nearby humans. Lucky for me, as I was walking through this park with no real intention of taking photos of anything. Fortunately I had my compact Nikon on me to snap a few photos of these neat reptiles.

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11 Comments

shekainah d. alaban 11 years ago

Ha ha ha ha ! Right its planking. How about parkour can he do it?

shekainah d. alaban 11 years ago

Planking! lol.

MayraSpringmann 11 years ago

Cool picture!!!!

NeilDazet 11 years ago

Thanks Ava! There might already be a local mission like that. I'll definitely have to check it out when I change my location.

Ava T-B 11 years ago

Neil, when you get to Brooklyn, maybe you can start a Prospect Park mission, or a Parks of NY mission.
Love your informative notes.

NeilDazet 11 years ago

Thanks Kathleen! Although I was using 5X zoom, normally when I get this close to them they at least put their limbs down and grab the wood, maybe pause, then dive into the water. But, they are used to nearby people at this park so they just stay put and enjoy the sunlight.