This is the time of year when our local turtles become fairly easy to spot. Visit a slow-moving or still-water wetland, look for a log or rocks sticking out of the water in the sunshine, and you might find one or more turtles basking themselves.

Like all reptiles, turtles need the sun to warm their bodies as they are ectothermic (cold-blooded) and cannot regulate their body temperatures. The warmth of the sun is so vital to their ability to function that local turtles spend up to six months of the colder seasons in torpor, burrowed in the mud waiting for warm weather to wake up again.

The shell of a turtle is made up of bones covered by plates called scutes. Like our bones, the turtle’s shell is part of its skeleton and it can never crawl out of the shell. The shell’s top is called the carapace and the bottom is the plastron. The two parts are fused together and the spine and rib cage are fused to the inside of the carapace.

TURTLES VS. TORTOISES

What is the difference? Turtles spend most of their lives in water, tortoises on land. Turtles have webbed feet for swimming, tortoises have round and stumpy feet. Land turtles use freshwater habitats like lakes and ponds filled with plants like cattails and water lilies. Tortoises are often found in hot, dry habitats full of shrubs, grasses and even cactus.

All local land turtles are omnivores. However, some prefer a higher level of protein, while others eat more vegetation and only the occasional worm or fish. Instead of teeth, local turtles have a hard sharpened edge in their mouth that works like a bird beak to break off food. Turtles rely on camouflage to stay safe. Also, the ability to pull all external body parts into the shell is important for protection.

NORTHWEST TURTLES

The three types of land turtles you will find in the Northwest are red-eared sliders, painted turtles and Western pond turtles. Sliders are typically found in pet stores and are not native to this area. Because so many people have turned these pets loose, sliders now live in many freshwater habitats. This is a problem because sliders often out-compete native turtles for limited resources.

Native painted turtles live in wetlands as well and grow to about 10 inches. The skin of an adult’s head, neck, feet and tail, and the scutes have red and yellow stripes that make them look painted. Sliders and painted turtles look similar from a distance but sliders have a red patch on the cheek.

A rare turtle in our area is the Western pond turtle. Pond turtles used to be found in much of the Puget Sound lowlands. Because of a loss of habitat, competition and predation, the pond turtle is endangered. Many agencies and organizations are raising baby Western pond turtles and releasing them into the wild once they are large enough to survive. From a population of less than 200, current numbers indicate that 600 individuals now live in the wild.

WHERE TO SEE TURTLES

Viewing turtles is as simple as visiting a local wetland. On a sunny summer day, turtles can usually be seen at Wapato Lake, Snake Lake at the Tacoma Nature Center, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and other wetlands. Successful observers approach basking spots quietly in order to have a chance to see before the turtles jump back into the water for safety. To view turtles up close, the Nature Center has young painted turtles, one of the rare Western pond turtles and a terrestrial turtle native to the Eastern United States, a three-toed box turtle.

This month’s column was written by the staff at the Tacoma Nature Center.

Turtle Facts

 • Turtles all lay eggs, which incubate from the heat in the soil and vegetation around them. The temperature usually determines the sex of the turtle hatchlings with females developing from eggs in warmer areas.

 • There are about 60 bones that make up the shell of a turtle.

 • In some turtles, you can count the number of rings in the scutes – the bony plate on the shell – to help determine age, just like counting tree rings.