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Sudbury river turtles (red ear terras) |
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AGILIS
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Posted: 14 May 2011 at 1:01pm |
Had a snoop down the river Stour this sarvo fri 13TH copped this pair of red ears , the single one headed for the one nearest the land , I reckon they must be breeding as they have been seen in other places and these were at least 10"/12" in size as they were about 35 feet away.And have survived the coldest winter for a long time. keith
Edited by AGILIS - 14 May 2011 at 4:36pm |
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LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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hi keith
thanks for posting. as far as i know, although egg-laying by Red Ears has been recently observed in southern england, no hatchlings have yet been recorded anywhere in the uk. others please correct me if im wrong but i think its because a long spell of continuous high humidity is required to successfully incubate the eggs. presently (though the situation may be changing with global warming), the UK climate does not offer this. they easily survive our winters by slowing their heart-rate to tickover (thereby requiring little oxygen) and hibernating in the mud at the bottom of ponds,canals etc. when i was a kid i put mine in the garden pond one springtime. i only intended keeping them there for the summer. however, they disappeared in the autumn and i assumed they had (sadly for me) died. it was quite a shock to see them out basking again the following spring! a very happy moment at the time. posting under "aliens" on RAUK is quite "political" or "controversial" here. should you consider a species one that "should be removed" or alternatively, "no threat" when you choose which category to post under? i guess its up to the individual herper and their opinion. its interesting to read who's posted what and where! perhaps one could argue that human activity is just another part of "nature" so if we move species about then thats just another common aspect of the planets evolution. i mean the Normans brought rabbits here and they became handy meal for our native foxes and buzzards, so Red Ear hatchlings could easily become a food source for herons etc and slot in. every case isnt a "Grey Squirrel disaster" - far from it and many species cannot thrive in UK habitat in any case. plus some "aliens" (what does that word even mean? - all lifeforms are Earth residents) find their way here without mans intervention. eg Little Egret, various insects and possibly European Eagle Owl - though the source of the latter has been lately cast in doubt i believe? if anyone thinks im talking crap, well fair enough - stick your neck out and voice an opinion then. forums are most potent and interesting when they are for discussion and debate surely? no offence to anyone intended! having kept Red Ears for years, grown fond of the species and occasionally sighting them in "the wild" myself, then if im honest i guess i enjoy the Herp diversity that they bring. maybe thats selfish ha ha! since the uk (sadly) has relatively few reptiles and its like bumping into an old school friend years later if i see one. however, im glad they are noted and monitored by the experts. caution is well-advised. Red Eared Terrapins can live for many decades of course. even here. its successful breeding thats the problem - for them! cheers keith and nice pix as usual! all the best mate, ben |
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I for one agree with you Ben, to say people increasing an animals range isn't natural is a bit of a strange argument - we are part of nature ourselves.
What is more worrying is dedicated and very deliberate introductions of non-native species in sensitive areas by those who should know better (been done to death on here). Or Bullfrogs becoming established for example. It's always an emotive subject though. Marsh frogs in Kent is another example, I love to hear their crazy calls when in the field, like they are laughing their heads off at you. So another species I'm rather glad we have. I tend to think when I see red eared terrapins in larger lakes etc they are doing very little harm in my opinion and enjoy them too. I've no idea how many there in the UK now, but considering I find them in places such as ornamental lakes and farm ponds, I'm guessing many hundreds if not thousands actually exist in the wild now. Not really surprising because I remember well vendors selling them when they were the size of an old 50p piece, swearing blind they wouldn't grow. Hmmmm! I think I'm right in saying the only successful outdoor UK hatching took place in artificially heated hides provided for wildfowl. I still think it is just possible though we could see them breed in future years with no artificial help. I should add too that as an anecdote, a number of people have told me it is only the larger animals that survive overwintering, this has come for example from land owners who have allowed animals to be released into fish ponds etc. So it will be interesting to see if we ever get a successful UK breeding if the offspring can survive a UK winter.
Edited by GemmaJF - 14 May 2011 at 9:48pm |
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AGILIS
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Gemma and Ben I have not seen any young unns so its right to assume these are releases,but always a possibility of a clutch, but its nice to see they have found a mate as in friend as individual releases means a life of solitude, and I would rather see them enjoying some freedom ,as a lot were the victims of callous bastards who flushed them down the bog in the 1970s/80s,would one be right in saying they were about 20/30 year olds as counting the plates around the edge of their shells I think is the way to age them ??I think Robert Vaughan is more familiar with them around Epping forest ponds and would have a good idea if any have bred ? Keith
Edited by AGILIS - 15 May 2011 at 11:17am |
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LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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the last 2 i had were one of each sex, same age. although they basked together, the larger and deadlier (just as in the cliche!) female would often see him off by chasing him and biting at his legs/feet. funnily enough, just like the females i chat up in Witherspoons. ben |
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AGILIS
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Funny thing Ben your predicament in Witherspoons is a bit like mine
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LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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just in case anyone reading this was wondering, my terrapins eventually went on to new homes.
and i dont mean the canal etc. enclosures. Edited by ben rigsby - 16 May 2011 at 6:42pm |
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Dr Devo
Member Joined: 20 May 2011 Location: Macclesfield Status: Offline Points: 13 |
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Dear Agilis
I am writing an essay an essay for Chad Arment`s Bio Fortean Notes 2 (no 1 recently available on amazon.co.uk) on `Mystery Amphibians and Reptiles in Britain and Ireland since 1700`. Please can I have permission to quote from your posting and use the photo on your Sudbury river turtles in my essay? I mean the photo that showed 2 turtles?
Dr Devo.
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