Red-eared Slider

Thanks for the pose!

 

The other beauty

Red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta)

Slow and steady Sliders

 When it's the most natural thing to do, no awkwardness, no self-consciousness.

But it does look like it's going to be a long afternoon for this pair of Red-eared Sliders.

As it's not so common to come across this scene despite the healthy population of Sliders here, I tried not to be too intrusive as I circled round them for record shots.

These turtles may be used to people walking about but they will disappear into the water immediately if anyone approaches too close when they are basking in the sun.

However, according to the Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (extract FB, 8 July 2019):

Red-Eared Slider (invasive sp.) 

Red-eard (sic) sliders are a very popular aquatic pets. They’re easily found in pet shops and are usually sold at a very low price. While they may seem cute because of their small size, these turtles are highly invasive!

They’re listed as one of the worlds top 100 worst invasive species. They compete aggressively with our native turtle species for food and other resources. Most of the Red-eared sliders are hybrids, which means they’re more aggressive (with longer claws), highly adaptable to their surrounding environment and they eat almost everything. This leaves our gentle native turtles no chance of survival.

Please do not buy Red-eared sliders as pets. If you already have one, please do not release them into any pond or lakes or rivers. Instead, give them up to other family members or friends. Whatever you do, DO NOT release them into the wild. 

 

As I was passing by

 

Happy sun-bathing!

As I was passing by

 

The other colours of the taman.  Co-existence. 

As I was walking by

A ninja-original! 

A pleasant slider sight

 It's not so easy to see a red-eared slider in the taman these days that I was thrilled to come across one, and hoping that there are more even though not visible.

Intimate turtle moment

First, it was pretty disturbing when I saw the discoloured shells, practically bleached, of these three Red-eared Sliders.  

This one looked like it would soon meet the same fate as the other two bigger (and older?) ones.

Fortunately I had the opportunity to creep up on them again, and was rather heartened to note that it didn't affect their body as these turtles did look healthy.
This particular one then drew my attention by the way it balanced itself on the rock, how adorable I thought!

And I would be in for a pleasant surprise when another crawled up slowly from the water.

And then it looked like some loving was going on!

Yup, for sure there was!  How terribly sweet!

 And then that horrible leaf blower noise, breaking into the intimacy!

It looked like one of them had decided to move off.

Nope, something made it decide to turn back.

And get back together, but unfortunately not for long with the increasing approach of the leaf blower.

Back into the lake eventually.

Sliders sunning

I guessed I would be doing this too after a very wet night, or perhaps not considering these Red-eared Sliders's habitat!  This was one rare occasion when it looked like these Sliders were absolutely into basking that they didn't sense me creeping up to them.

As I was passing by

Thanks for the pose!

As I was passing by

Thanks for the pose!

Turtle encounter, almost

The nearer you come the further I go, and this was precisely what this red-eared slider did to me when I approached.  Spying it from across the pond its symmetrical image in the pond water had me hurrying along to get a closer shot but unfortunately sensing me from afar, it disappeared instantly into the pond.
What's interesting about this one is its age going by its faded shell, suggesting that it's a long time resident here.

I had much earlier came across another one, a box turtle, but this one looked totally out of place here, and it also promptly disappeared into the undergrowth probably because I was between it and the pond.

Sadly sighting turtles in the taman is so rare now.  I remember when it was quite easy to come across colonies of turtles, my biggest count being eight of big and small ones.

A natural time out

What does one do while waiting for the target bird to appear?  Take shots of whatever come around naturally!