Spiny softshells are known to be in Lake Washington. Based on some observations of multiple size classes,
they appear to be reproducing.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington
Reply to: mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov

On Mon, 28 May 2001, Netta Smith wrote:

> Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 20:06:32 -0800
> From: Netta Smith <nettasmith at home.com>
> To: fredbird at heliotropeseattle.com
> Cc: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: re: pointy-headed turtles
>
> Fred, I was just perusing tweeters. If the turtles you saw were flat and
> smooth (no plates visible) and had very slender, pointed snouts, they were
> presumably softshells. I know there are snapping turtles and red-eared
> sliders in Lake Washington, and perhaps anything is possible. I think many
> kinds of turtles have been released in western WA; I saw one the other day
> in a pond at Golden Gardens that I couldn't identify and I suspect is an
> Asian species. I'm really down on people keeping exotic pets and then
> releasing them in nature. This is a very bad thing to do.
>
> Dennis
> --
> Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
> 1724 NE 98 St.
> Seattle, WA 98115
>