Nature CSI Returns-Who killed Turtle?

Adult turtles are WELL PROTECTED with their hard shell. But they still occasionally fall prey to alligators, ospreys, crows, red-shouldered hawks, bald eagles, and especially raccoons. Their other big predator is people. It is not people in this case as a person would have eaten the turtle a little differently (no shell discarded on land for example) , NO alligators in this Wisconsin lake and NO osprey, bald eagles or red-shouldered hawks have been sighted in the area. It could have been a crow but this turtle is pretty big for a crow --so it must have been...THE RACCOON.

This female may have been coming up on shore to lay her eggs and was caught on land by a raccoon. If she had stayed in the water, the raccoon would not have been able to catch her as she is a very fast swimmer. On land she is slow and awkward--she can not escape her predators.


More information about turtles can be found at my favorite Wisconsin nature site EEK at  http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/reptile/westernpaintedturtle.htm

For more information on House In The Wood please go to our website at www.houseinthewood.org

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