Windwolf
Crex Meadows ... Wildlife on the Meadows ... Blandings Turtle
Blandings Turtle
Emydoidea blandingii
The picture on the left was caught by accident.
When I was reviewing pictures taken, I found this head poking up out of the water!
The bright yellow throat of the Blandings turtle is showing in its reflection.
Picture taken April 17, 2008.
These semi-aquatic turtles have moderately high, elongated, domed, smooth carapaces. The Blandings turtles carapace (shell) is black or gray with any variation of scattered light yellow or whitish flecks or dots (I call it a snowflake pattern). The light spots and flecks predominate in some individuals while others are almost solid black. The underside of the Blanding turtle shell is yellow in color with a dark blotch in the outer corner of each scute.
Picture above taken July 1, 2008.
The head is rather flat with a short, rounded snout.
The top and sides of the Blandings turtle head vary in coloration from black, brown, or olive with yellowish spots or mottling.
Contrasting greatly with the rest of the turtle, the chin, throat, and underside of the long neck are bright yellow.
Immature turtles are often more brightly marked than adults.
Picture on right taken July 1, 2008
Picture below taken June 17, 2008
Blanding's turtles are found in and around shallow weedy ponds, marshes, swamps, and lake inlets and coves most of the year, prefering a slow-moving, shallow water with a muddy bottom and plenty of vegetation. Blanding's turtles are omnivores enjoying crustaceans, insects, leeches, snails, small fish, frogs, and some plants.
Less than half of the adult female Blandings turtle population will reproduce in a give year.
Open, sunny spots in well-drained but moist sandy soil are preferred for nest sites, but lawns, gardens, or gravel road edges will be used.
Nest sites hold 6 to 21 eggs. Most hatchlings will emerge 50 to 75 days later, depending on the temperature and moisture in the nest, in August or early September.
Blanding's turtles have temperature-dependent sex determination, eggs incubated below 25 degrees C produce nearly all males and those incubated above 30 degrees C are nearly all females.
Picture above right taken April 24, 2008
Picture below taken July 1, 2008
Few young are ever encountered in the wild, it is presumed that the hatchlings are extremely unlikely to survive the initial weeks away from the nest.
Blandings turtles reach sexual maturity in 14 to 20 years and reproduce for approximately the next 40 years, but some individuals may live much longer.
Blanding's turtles generally hibernate from late October until early April, but quite often they can be seen moving slowly below the ice.
Blandings Turtle Taxonomy
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Family: | Emydidae |
| Genus: | Emydoidea |
| Species: | Emydoidea blandingii |
Sources include: Kipp, S. 2000. "Emydoidea blandingii" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Emydoidea_blandingii.html.