A Newer Turtle in Town

Last June I posted about A New Turtle in Town, the last line of which read, "So set a reminder to check back in just under two and a half months.".

Well it took a bit longer, but we discovered the first hatchling in the enclosure today. A baby Eastern Painted Turtle.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

I carefully lifted it out of the enclosure and set it on the ground.

It is tiny!

We stepped back and it headed toward the back pond.

A long way to go.

And those are some small legs. So I helped it along a bit.

Almost there.

And then it disappeared into the pond. I hope it survives.

I sealed up the enclosure, as Painted Turtles can have a clutch size of up to six eggs. I'll be checking every day to see if any more need a lift to the pond.