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Index of Subjects Red-eared sliders are a common pet species, and people sometimes deliberately release them into nearby wetlands when they don't want to look after them any more. I've read a few documents claiming it's probably too cold for RES to breed in Canada -- but I don't know whether winter hibernation is a similar problem (i.e., they might not breed, but they could still hang around for years and years). I can think of one expert who's convinced that a resident population of RES has become established in Cootes Paradish Marsh (Hamilton Harbour, ON) as a result of frequent releases, perhaps in spite of these breeding predictions. Page 2 of this document ( http://www.rbg.ca/Document.Doc?id=54 ) suggests at least 50 are found there. I used to see Sliders in Cootes quite a bit; it's no surprise to me that you might also find one in Dartmouth, especially at this time of year. One concern about releasing these captives is spreading diseases to native Painteds. There are some good identification pictures here: http://www.littleresq.net/4.html --Bob On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 21:23, Dusan Soudek <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > This afternoon I noticed a medium-sized turtle sunning itself on a > slanted piece of concrete on the shore of Dartmouth's "Sawmill River" near > the downstream end of the long Alderney Drive culvert. Clearly, it wasn't > one of our four local freshwater turtle species. > It looked healthy, looking at me and stretching its legs, even though it > was in a terrible turtle habitat, surrounded by seawalls, a culvert, and the > ocean. It may have been swept downriver from Sullivans Pond or even lakes > Banook or Micmac during the recent high water. Didn't someone report an > exotic turtle from there this spring? > The turtle's carapace was about 25 cm in length, smooth, and uniformly > dark brown to black. Its legs and neck were also uniformly dark brown to > blackish, except for reddish stripes on the dorsolateral aspect of its neck. > It may be a Red-Eared Turtle, from the Southern U.S. > I cannot see how this escapee/releasee from captivity can survive in its > current suboptimal urban habitat. Will try to take a photo of it... > Dusan Soudek
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