The Urban Pantheist

I'm pretty sure these are Red-eared Sliders. Their coloration gets very dark the older they get. But even on the old ones you can still see the red "ear" with binoculars. They are found in all parts of the Muddy river from the Charles to the top of the Muddy at Ward's Pond. They're also in Hibiscus Lake at Forest Hills Cemetery and at Scarborough Pond in Franklin Park. I believe they're in every small pond and waterway in the Boston area and in many ponds out in into the suburbs. I've never seen them in Jamaica Pond, the steep sided kettle pond doesn't suit them. I have seen juveniles in Leverett Pond recently. I believe they are breeding, there are so many around I have trouble believing a remnant introduced population could sustain such numbers. For an introduced southern species it's interesting that the sliders are the first to come out and sun in the spring and the last in the fall. I've seen them sunning in the Muddy in late November. That doesn't mean that the native painted turtlesd are inactive in cooler weather. At Ward's Pond look for painted turtles swimming under the thin ice in early winter.