A Scaly Find

Recently I found a turtle in the street in my neighborhood, so to keep it safe I decided to move it to the neighborhood pond. When I put it on the ground, it bolted for the water.

It looked like some of the turtles I’ve seen at some wildlife refuges and parks, including Steigerwald refuge in Washington and Boardman wetlands in Milwaukie, where they were sitting on logs in the sun for warmth. After moving our neighborhood turtle to safety, I did some research to see what kind of turtle it was, and to see if it was native to Oregon.

I found out that there are two native species of turtles. One is a western painted turtle, and the other is a western pond turtle. 

Western painted turtles live in marshy ponds, slow moving streams, and small lakes. They like a quiet environment so the best way to find them is to be quiet. You can find them in the northern part of the state. The juveniles feed on aquatic insects, fish, tadpoles, crustaceans, and snails. The adults will eat carrion, cattail seeds and cattail stems, and algae.

Western pond turtles are found in ponds, lakes, marshes, and streams. They eat aquatic insects, grasshoppers, flies, beetles, fish, worms, crustaceans, and amphibians. They are mostly found in the western parts of the state.

Our neighborhood turtle was a western painted turtle, and I saw him only once after I released him. He may have moved on. Someone close by posted on social media that they found a turtle that looked very similar to the one I found. Wherever he is now, I hope he is safe and happy.