Turtle ! - Red-eared slider !! - விழிகள் மேடையாம்

What do you do when someone looks straight into your eyes ! – who blinks first ?!? 

Heard of Brumation !   -   In biology, it is a  lethargic state that some ectothermic animals, such as reptiles, assume during cold conditions. Partly analogous to hibernation, physiological differences include that brumation does not depend on stored fat, but rather on reduced metabolic activity. 

ஆமை புகுந்த இடம் உருப்படாது என்பார்கள் .. .. ஆனால் நீர்நிலைகள் ஆமைகளின் இருப்பிடம். ஆமை பார்ப்பதற்கு அப்படி ஒன்றும் அழகில்லை. . அது நம்மை ஏறிட்டுப் பார்க்கையில்  அதன் கனத்த முதுகும், ஓட்டுக்கு வெளியே தெரியும் அதன் முகமும், நான்கு பாதங்களும்  சற்று வித்தியாசமாகவே இருந்தது.  திருவல்லிக்கேணி  கைரவிணி திருக்குளத்தில் இந்த ஆமை இளைப்பாறி நம்மை நேருக்கு நேர் சந்தித்தபோது எடுத்த படம். 

 

விழிகள் மேடையாம், இமைகள் திரைகளாம்

பார்வை நாடகம், அரங்கில் ஏறுதாம் - ஓ.. ஓ.. ஓஓ.. 

Google image search reveals the one pictured to be a terrapin – a variety known as ‘red-eared slider’  (Trachemys scripta elegans), a subspecies of the pond slider, a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, is also popular as a pet across the rest of the world, and is the most invasive turtle.  It is the most commonly traded turtle in the world. 

The red-eared slider is native from the Midwestern United States to northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become invasive in many areas where it outcompetes native species.   

Red-eared sliders  (pls do not ask where the ears are !) do not hibernate, but actually brumate; while they become less active, they do occasionally rise to the surface for food or air. Brumation can occur to varying degrees. In the wild, red-eared sliders brumate over the winter at the bottoms of ponds or shallow lakes. During this time, the turtles enter a state of sopor, during which they do not eat or defecate, they remain nearly motionless, and the frequency of their breathing falls. Individuals usually brumate under water, but they have also been found under banks and rocks, and in hollow stumps. In warmer winter climates, they can become active and come to the surface for basking.   

Not sure how much you would like this – but taking photograph of pond turtle was a challenge. 

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
25.12.2023