they leave the water to make their nests , and that's likely where
they are going when you see one
I doubt it. There's a little island in the middle of the pond where
they live which would be a great place for them to make a nest. Not so
the mowed part of the park where they wander off to when they're lost.
The ducks sometime lay eggs 'haphazardly' around the pond and 'someone'
(I think for ecological reasons rather than 'greed') comes around and
picks them up. I never see baby ducklings there; there are already too
many ducks for that pond. There used to be signs saying 'don't feed the
ducks' but they took those down.
I'm also doubting this GPS story. I'm getting straightened out on the
Differences exist in usage of the common terms turtle, tortoise, and
terrapin, depending on the variety of English being used; usage is
inconsistent and contradictory.[3] These terms are common names and
do not reflect precise biological or taxonomic distinctions.
The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists uses
"turtle" to describe all species of the order Testudines, regardless
of whether they are land-dwelling or sea-dwelling, and uses
"tortoise" as a more specific term for slow-moving terrestrial
species.[3] General American usage agrees; turtle is often a general
term; tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or,
more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of
modern land tortoises
British usage, by contrast, tends not to use "turtle" as a generic
term for all members of the order, and also applies the term
"tortoises" broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order
Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the
family Testudinidae.[8] In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a
larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in
America.
Australian usage is different from both American and British usage.
In any case, I think I'll discard my 'discrimination' between turtle &
terrapin and just call them all turtles, because I've also used the term
'box turtle' for a land turtle.
And, about that GPS. I 'recognize' that *sea turtles* have wondrous
navigation skills about being able to wander the oceans and come back to
where they lay their eggs.
But, I'm still very doubtful that those skills are also held by 'simple'
pond turtles or land box turtles.
And, according to the 'behavior' of sea turtles, I think that if you
'caught' a sea turtle and relocated it, it would still be able to
navigate the ocean to find its way back to the island or shore where it
was hatched.
--
Mike Easter
