Basking painted turtles seem to complete the picture of a serene spring or summer pond. The problem with our painted turtles, however, is that they’re paranoid. As soon as they see or hear you, that perfect picture becomes an uninteresting bare rock (maybe decorated with turtle scat) and a ring spreading on dark water where the PT took a fast bellyflop.
Nonetheless, if you sacrifice the serenity and creep and crawl up to the pond, you sometimes get a quick glimpse of the turtles.
Maine’s subspecies is the Eastern painted turtle, Chrysemys picta picta, shown here. It’s the only subspecies with shell top (“carapace”) segments (“scutes”) that occur in virtually straight rows and columns. The other subspecies are the Western, Midland, and Southern PTs. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 22, 2022.)