Red Eared Sliders

Chris Buchanan - UNT Integrative Studies Major

I returned to my mandala for the first time since the cold winter days have given way to the warmer afternoons of spring. It is now April and a cool breeze welcomed me back as I sat down along the edge of the small concrete pond that lies at the center of my mandala. My goal was to observe the several small groups of cattails that inhabit the pond and apply some of the research that I conducted on the invasive species of water plants, when I was immediately distracted by multiple organisms swimming around the pond. They are red eared slider turtles. The first one that I observed was floating, motionless; gripping onto the metal fencing that surrounds, and protects, the group of cattails. I then spotted another, swimming away in the opposite direction of where I was sitting. Before this day, I hadn’t seen any turtles inhabiting the pond and immediately assumed that they must be far less active during the winter.

Red eared slider at EESAT by the author.

While pondering the whereabouts of the turtles during the winter, I observed a third red eared slider swimming directly towards me. When it reached the edge of the pond, and the foot high cement wall separating it from myself, the turtle began swimming back and forth along the edge. At first I assumed that the turtle was investigating my presence in the mandala, then remembered the fact that almost every afternoon that I walked past the small body of water, I saw dozens of grade school children around the pond on field trips. Upon remembering this fact, I realized that the turtle was most likely searching for food, hoping that I would toss it what was left of my lunch. I then decided to test this theory by sticking my finger down to the edge of the water, where the turtle continued to swim back and forth. At first, it was curious and investigated the strange object that was hanging a centimeter away from its face. The turtle quickly decided that my hand was either a direct threat to its survival, or a potentially valuable food source, and snapped its tiny green mouth in the direction of my finger. Knowing that this was a very likely possibility, I was alert, and managed to pull my finger back in time before the turtle clamped down on my index finger. The reaction of the turtle led me to believe that it had grown accustomed to recognizing human visitors in its habitat as potential providers of food.