For those of you tweeters who have seen the turtle that sits on the log next
to the bridge where the Cedar River runs out into Lake Washington, I think
it is an old male Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans).

Thank goodness the scare from salmonella transmission from turtles caused
the stopping of the collection of hundreds of thousands of baby turtles from
the East and selling them as pets. This kind of turtle used to be one of the
most commonly sold in pet stores, and many have been released by their
owners when they got too big for their quarters. There are a lot of them in
lakes in the Puget Sound area, along with some Painted Turtles (Chrysemys
picta), also introduced.

Anyway, this turtle is an amazing beast, as it's out "basking" under the
clouds in what I consider pretty cold winter weather. This is not something
I would EVER have expected from a reptile. I wondered if it might be dead
and mummified until I saw it blink.

While you're there watching those gulls, check it out. It was still there at
4 pm today, as the sky darkened. No Great Black-backed or Slaty-backed Gull
had been seen up to that time, as far as I know. Unfortunately, most of the
gulls from the dump overfly the river mouth and settle far out on the lake.

Dennis Paulson
--
Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115