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Citizen complaint of the day: Myrtle, or maybe Yertle, doesn't belong in the Public Garden
By adamg on Mon, 07/01/2024 - 10:29am
Turtle in the grass, alas
A concerned citizen files a 311 request that somebody come rescue the turtle that is now shelling around where it doesn't belong, in the Public Garden lagoon:
Potential pet turtle dumped in the public garden. It is now swimming in the lagoon but was first spotted at the top of the grassy slope between the lagoon and the walkway with no clearly visible method for it to have gotten over the ledge leading out of the lagoon and into the grass.
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Comments
Turtles don't belong but drug
Turtles don't belong but drug smokers are
You should be worried!
The turtles are most certainly doing some harmless fetish stuff with ketchup!
Heaven forfend!
And doing really bad things with turnips and antifreeze, especially without Donny Osmond around to supervise! And please pray he doesn't go to the Pygmy Twylyght to get the knirps for moisture!
(SwrrlyGirl, that was directed to our resident muck poster, not to your post above. No offense intended. And in case anyone doesn't get the references, they're from Bloom County and Frank Zappa.)
That turtle is looking for a nesting site
Eastern painted turtles come out of ponds in our area at this time of year to look for places to lay their eggs. They dig a hole in the ground, bury the eggs, and then return to their ponds and leave the eggs to develop in the ground. If the eggs are not dug up by skunks or raccoons, they'll hatch next spring and the hatchling turtles will dig themselves out and try to make it to the water before they're picked off by crows and the like.
In some parts of the country the eggs hatch in the fall, but I've seen hatchling painted turtles in April with remnants of their yolk sacs still attached, which tells me that here in the Boston area they're overwintering in the nest and emerging in the spring.
Eastern painted turtle
You are right and also about nesting behavior.
I like tuttles.
If the turtle is trapped, the can add a wooden turtle and rat ramp.
I think the report of a trapped animal may be valid, but the turtle staying there a while is probably valid. Let the turtle choose by providing opportunity to depart for other local habitats.
Glue on an airtag to provide streaming for the socials. Maybe MOS can help.
Leave it alone please
Don't know if it is native to the Public Gardens but there could be eggs nearby.
Hard to tell from the markings but maybe a box turtle.
Does belong
They have lived in that lagoon for hundreds of years.
...first spotted at the top
It probably came up the swan boat ramp. If not that way he probably used its sharp talons to scale the walkway wall.