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Project Noah Nature School
This turtle was photographed at The Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona (Phoenix).
The Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona (Phoenix).
There were many Red-eared Sliders in the same pond, but this turtle had a distinctly different appearance.
A lot of sliders are melanistic, which can make it hard to tell if it's a red-eared or yellow-bellied slider. There are also ordinary RES in the wild that have no red ear. I had a theory that there were once native sliders here that have been obscured by released pets, but they may be just an older population of released pets. There's also the question does the red stripe make it a "breed"?
Spotted on Apr 18, 2021
Submitted on Aug 12, 2021
