Land/Water Wildlife

Greenshank (the pale one), Redshanks, Black Tailed Godwits and Black Headed Gull.

 

It required some effort to identify this, it is a Northern red-bellied cooter. No, I am not kidding, that is what it is called. I sent the photo to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to ponder because it is not only endangered, but it is not native to New York state. Perhaps someone had it as a pet and released it. I estimate the length at about 15 inches.

Online search:

"The red-bellied cooter is an aquatic turtle with a dark, highly domed shell and a distinctive red belly. It can be found basking along the edge of ponds, streams and rivers throughout the Potomac River and in coastal portions of Maryland and Virginia.

Due to the loss of historic populations, increasing shoreline and between-pond development, and increased predation pressure, the northern red-bellied cooter was placed on the endangered species listed and granted critical habitat in 1980"

 

I love it. I hate it when humans take special wildlife, can't cope/deal with it and "dump" it. Makes me cringe, no so angry!

What did you do with it or did you just capture a photo of it? Thank you for sharing.

 

There is no way I could capture it, it is now a permanent resident. They live about 45-55 years so it will be here for quite a while.

 

Isn't it exciting to spot something we haven't seen before @hydrogardener?

 

It certainly is Sheal.

 

The deer flies show these poor animals no mercy this time of year.

 

I watch a lot of wildlife programmes so appreciate this.

 

@hydrogardener
A popular 'pet' here in the 80'/90s Red Eared Sliders were dumped in their hundreds as they became too big for their owners or just unwanted. Native to the US Southern States where it is a lot warmer than here, they survive but fortunately cannot breed. It will be a long time before they die out as they too can live in excess of 30 years. These two are at Poole Park Lake, Dorset.

 

They really resemble painted box turtles, which we have by the millions.

 

Here is a full image of the little doe, she needs to hurry and add some weight before the cold weather. She was just fine with me standing close and photographing her, then some fool came along on a noisy dirt bike and scared her off.

 

The Conservation Department confirmed the turtle as a Northern red-bellied cooter:

"Hello,

I checked with a couple of our reptile and amphibian experts, and they confirmed that it does look like it is a northern red-bellied cooter. While they are a species native to the United States, and are endangered in some locations, they are not a species that is native to New York, and it was likely released there at some point. Unfortunately, over the years Five Rivers has become a release site for unwanted pets, especially turtles.

Jeremy"

 

Why is my camera always in another room when I need it. Skyping with my daughter earlier a Pine Marten visited to drink from the bird bath and I managed to turn my computer around quickly enough for her to see it. It's only the second one I've seen in the five years I've lived here.

I hadn't seen a Badger in the garden this year and wondered if someone had 'interfered' with the three setts in the area. Obviously not, as I've seen two badgers (or maybe the same one) on two consecutive nights, Friday and Saturday.

 

Now I have an injured skunk lurking about at night. The animal is a pitiful sight, as it is dragging its back legs and can not lift its tail, and, it only has one eye. I just mentioned it to the rehab person in conversation and right away she wanted me to call an EnCon officer to come and dispatch the animal. There are several problems with that, like it comes at all different hours, so I could not tell them when to come. She also said there are rehabbers who work with skunks. Good luck to them, I am not about to trap a skunk! That said, I watch the animal on video and it seems to have adapted to its condition. It drags itself around and the other skunks let it feed and do not bother it. I have been watching it for almost two weeks and it seems to be managing alright. I am guessing that if it had its choice, it would prefer life in its present condition to being "dispatched".

 

Oh, how sad and soul destroying that you cannot help.