# Turtle sighting



## Long way down (Jul 29, 2009)

Hi I was at my second home this week kingsbury water park warwickshire, and spotted a fully grown turtle suning himself on a branch over a pool, i have seen this turtle twice in the same spot. Looking in my book it looks like a european pond turtle. i allways thorght they came from warm climates how could he survive the winter temps over here.


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## KJ Exotics (Jun 16, 2007)

I live not far from there, where abouts in the park it self ??


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

could be a terrapin. nasty blighters. kids got them when the ninja turtle craze was around, then dumped them when they realised they got big and snappy. trouble is, they now terrorise ponds and rivers. the london wetland centre has loads of them and they devastated one pool, killing pretty much every chick. they can move very fast when someone tries to catch them too.


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## Long way down (Jul 29, 2009)

*kingsbury park*



KJ Exotics said:


> I live not far from there, where abouts in the park it self ??


 
Hi as you go in the main gate go all the way round the big gravel pit pool, at the back there is a big lake where they do the water sports, the lake is a grean colour, near causeway pool, there is a track that runs inbetween the main gravel pit and the water sports lake, it was a long that track i have seen it. Could meet up


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## RORCOV (Jul 19, 2005)

Many many years ago European Pond turtles used to inhabit Britain. They can quite happily live in our climate all year round, but are climate is no longer suitable for them to be able to breed successfully.

I am in Warwickshire so will go take a look some time. Take your camera next time


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## RORCOV (Jul 19, 2005)

laurencea said:


> could be a terrapin. nasty blighters. kids got them when the ninja turtle craze was around, then dumped them when they realised they got big and snappy. trouble is, they now terrorise ponds and rivers. the london wetland centre has loads of them and they devastated one pool, killing pretty much every chick. they can move very fast when someone tries to catch them too.


Bit of a myth this... adult Sliders & cooters (terrapins) are mainly vegetarian. Pike are more likely to blame for taking chicks than terrapins are.


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## EdGeorge (Apr 24, 2010)

I seen one eat a pike.


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

Turtle Jo said:


> Bit of a myth this... adult Sliders & cooters (terrapins) are mainly vegetarian. Pike are more likely to blame for taking chicks than terrapins are.


not according to the people at LWC, they have been a big problem there. in such a small environment they can be a real pest.


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## harwood (Sep 20, 2009)

EdGeorge said:


> I seen one eat a pike.


Was it already dead? cause I just can't see that, they're too slow to catch fish most of the time


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## Long way down (Jul 29, 2009)

*Ninja turtles*



harwood said:


> Was it already dead? cause I just can't see that, they're too slow to catch fish most of the time


 
No they have turbo packs built in:lol2:


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## angelserz (Apr 15, 2010)

Long way down said:


> Hi I was at my second home this week kingsbury water park warwickshire, and spotted a fully grown turtle suning himself on a branch over a pool, i have seen this turtle twice in the same spot. Looking in my book it looks like a european pond turtle. i allways thorght they came from warm climates how could he survive the winter temps over here.


You'll be surprised how many terrapins there are in ponds and lakes. People buy them when they're small but because of there size and the time they take t hey let them into the wild. I have just rescued two terrapins from a turtle rescue centre. Lots are found in the wild. They acclimatise apparently. The cant breed in the wild here, our climate is not the right climate for them to be able to breed. How big was the turtle that you spotted? 

(terrapin and turtle are the same animal turtle is the American word for what we call a terrapin so i was told)


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## Long way down (Jul 29, 2009)

angelserz said:


> You'll be surprised how many terrapins there are in ponds and lakes. People buy them when they're small but because of there size and the time they take t hey let them into the wild. I have just rescued two terrapins from a turtle rescue centre. Lots are found in the wild. They acclimatise apparently. The cant breed in the wild here, our climate is not the right climate for them to be able to breed. How big was the turtle that you spotted?
> 
> (terrapin and turtle are the same animal turtle is the American word for what we call a terrapin so i was told)


 
Hi angelserz thanks for your intrest, i think that it was fully grown about eight inches in lengh from the head to the back of the shell and five inches across


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## angelserz (Apr 15, 2010)

Sounds like a male turtle, I think a female would be bigger, not sure though, depends on the breed! I know a man that rescues the turtles from lakes and places. Awww, take a picture next time you see the turt, I'd love to see


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## pirez (May 3, 2009)

harwood said:


> Was it already dead? cause I just can't see that, they're too slow to catch fish most of the time


 Not the ninja ones!


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## MattClare (Oct 31, 2009)

angelserz said:


> Sounds like a male turtle, I think a female would be bigger, not sure though, depends on the breed! I know a man that rescues the turtles from lakes and places. Awww, take a picture next time you see the turt, I'd love to see


Females can be small too, might not be fully grown or might just be naturally smaller.


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

If you happen to catch one it is against the law to release it back into the wild!


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## millie_moo (Oct 31, 2008)

laurencea said:


> could be a terrapin. nasty blighters. kids got them when the ninja turtle craze was around, then dumped them when they realised they got big and snappy. trouble is, they now terrorise ponds and rivers. the london wetland centre has loads of them and they devastated one pool, killing pretty much every chick. they can move very fast when someone tries to catch them too.





Turtle Jo said:


> Bit of a myth this... adult Sliders & cooters (terrapins) are mainly vegetarian. Pike are more likely to blame for taking chicks than terrapins are.



would agree with what Turtle Jo has said about this one.... my red ear slider aka ninja turtle doesnt quite have the elegance of swimming /killing/eating... he has trouble with the king prawn he gets once a month! and thats from frozen!


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## sideslipper (Jul 30, 2011)

Long way down said:


> Hi angelserz thanks for your intrest, i think that it was fully grown about eight inches in lengh from the head to the back of the shell and five inches across


Hi. I have taken a photo today of the turtle at Kingsbury Water Park. I am a regular (daily) visitor there and these appear regularly at the same spot. There are at least 2 turtles and although some say they are red eared, I dont think they are so I am trying to load the photo but having problems. I will keep trying.


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## Smigsy (Jul 30, 2009)

angelserz said:


> You'll be surprised how many terrapins there are in ponds and lakes. People buy them when they're small but because of there size and the time they take t hey let them into the wild. I have just rescued two terrapins from a turtle rescue centre. Lots are found in the wild. They acclimatise apparently. The cant breed in the wild here, our climate is not the right climate for them to be able to breed. How big was the turtle that you spotted?
> 
> (terrapin and turtle are the same animal turtle is the American word for what we call a terrapin so i was told)



I'm not so sure as we still call a green sea turtle a turtle. RES are what we terrapins and tortoises are diff again.


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## sideslipper (Jul 30, 2011)

*Turtle at Kingsbury water park*


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

I can't tell from the picture - but RES would have a thick red marking on the side of its head. Yellow Bellied Sliders have a large yellow S on their heads. These are the most likely of the two, but of course you often get ones that are from both!

Good photo. It was obviously enjoying the sunshine. Most of ours are all basking today outside.


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## Smigsy (Jul 30, 2009)

I don't think it's either it looks too flat for them.


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## FeralWild (May 9, 2011)

There are thousands of terrapins of all sorts of species living wild in the uk these days. I live in Stalybridge nr Manchester and we have the huddersfield canal system nearby and also several lakes and reservoirs dotted about the place. When people release them, they tend to do so in spring, so the turtle has the chance to acclimatise to the outdoor surroundings before winter. If you keep terrapins outside all year round, then the terrapins won't actually need additional heat or lighting and tend to do fine that way. I know a guy who has some in an ornamental pond in his garden with a brick wall all around it. Behind the waterfall is a metre depth of loose topsoil, which the terrapins dig down into and hibernate each winter so its perfectly reasonable to expect that they would do the same if they were living out in country park lakes and canals.

The misconception people seem to have is that they cause havoc with the ecosystem. Its true that they can, and sometimes do, but adult sliders tend to feed more on slow moving prey such as waterplants, dead or dying fish and worms and other critters that fall into the water or whilst basking out on the banks. Townsfolk lack a certain level of imagination and tend to release overgrown turtles into places they assume are nice big waterways to live in. They pay a visit to a town park and see a huge duck pond and assume it is full of fish and other life. In reality it is a dug out concrete lined lake with a waterfall or fountain and an unusually high concentration of ducks and geese. They go on an evening and simply throw the turtle in and then leave it to its own devices. Most turtles in these circumstances don't survive or if they do, they live off a small amount of food a year and even then only enough to survive winter.

The turtles that do the most damage are the ones released into natural water sources with high levels of natural prey items. There is a reservoir near to where I live that is on the side of the moors, freezes over in winter, and is acid water due to the high levels of peat that flow in over the year. Yet even though it has only a small population of trout and other water life in it, it is an absoloute haven for terrapins. In summer they bask out on the concrete sluice and overflow bars. It also supports a very large Soft shell which I have seen grovelling about for worms in the shallows where the stream runs in at one end. The reservoir has geese and ducks in the summer that nest and breed on it, but very rarely do any of the ducklings and goslings get disturbed, or no more than would normally get taken.

In teeside when I was little, my grandparents used to take me to a country park that I can't for the life of me remember its name. But they had a huge lake with an island, that was full of ducks and geese and one year was over run with ducklings and goslings. Lots of us kids had an idylic summer of pond dipping, catching newts and sticklebacks and feeding the ducks but then the following year, when I went back again there were hardly any ducks and barely any ducklings. When my grandad enquired as to why, they said that that spring when all the ducklings had hatched, they just seemed to vanish, in small groups evey evening. A fox was originally to blame but there was no eveidence left behind. Then a mallard was found with one of the webs torn and then a gosling found dead with its neck feathers torn out and several indents on the throat. This was all about three or four years after Teenage mutant ninja turtles was popular.

At the same park, there was a walkround garden area with a medium sized two tier pond. The upper pond was about 30 feet diameter and the bottom pond about 40 diameter. There was a waterfall between the two ponds and the whole surround was planted up in an oriental garden design. There was a large collection of ornamental waterfowl and large koi carp cruising round. The view into the water was about two feet below the surface then it went too dark but the pond was about 8 ft deep at the deepest point. When I saw it the first year it was pretty impressive but the second year there was very few ducks and the carp were all gone and the water lilys were in tatters. 
Later that year there was a feature on the park in my grandparents localn paper that they showed me. The big lake had been drained and they had discovered over 400 terrapins of various sizes from three inch to 12 inch shell diameter that had been released by petowners that had gone off them or lost interest. Most of the waterfowl were visiters and not introduced to the lake so as the lake was drained they moved on and it was several years before they returned to it.

The two tier pond had also been drained and on draining, the upper pond revealed an adult male Alligator snapper of about two foot shell diameter and the bottom pond contained 8 more of both sexes and ranging from 8 inch to two foot diameter.


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## Long way down (Jul 29, 2009)

sideslipper said:


> image
> 
> Hi. I have taken a photo today of the turtle at Kingsbury Water Park. I am a regular (daily) visitor there and these appear regularly at the same spot. There are at least 2 turtles and although some say they are red eared, I dont think they are so I am trying to load the photo but having problems. I will keep trying.


 
Hi I did see the two turtles last year on the same branch, they did have colour round the head, they have done a lot of cutting back on the lake and have not seen them this year, but good to know they are still about.


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