Mud Turtle

A couple weeks ago I noticed a Mud Turtle basking in the small 100gal Branch pond. Apparently it crawled up here from Lake Hartwell. Why it did that, don't know, must have taken a couple days.

The Eastern Mud Turtle can grow to 5" and this one exceeds that.

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So why bring this up now? I was looking to see if the turtle was still there and saw a baby one. That tiny guy did not crawl here, so apparently the other one laid an egg in the pond a couple months back. As they mostly stay under water crawling on the bottom, I guess there could be more in the small pond. I don't know, just know there is Mom and kid living there.

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Few tiny turtles survive as Mother Nature's name is Ruth(less). I would like to protect it, give it a better chance, but that is hard to do. For now it is back where I found it. All suggestions are appreciated.

That is pretty cool.