Discussion: Turtle

Is it on top of ice?

Yup. It's a drainage canal, maybe 15 feet across. In places there was open water, but not in the vicinity of this guy. There was normal brushy vegetation about 10 feet ahead of him/her.

I guess I'm surprised he was out, but seems reasonable that a reptile would be very slow moving in cold conditions. Those guys aren't lightning fast anyway. I saw a nice one of those swimming around in Lake McDonough this summer when we were out kayaking. Handsome animal, in his way.

I don't see a lot of turtles on my runs, or know much about how fast they move. But I do remember seeing one at CH that I logged about and that must have been moving quite a bit faster than your guy.

Top recorded speed is supposedly 4 km an hour. So your guy could have done the trip in 15 minutes.

The ranger said that the turtle was probably suffering from cold shock. And it had most likely come out because it's hole got flooded and was looking for a new one. They need some air, and often use muskrat holes in the canal bank.

So your guy could have done the trip in 15 minutes.

Phil can apparently run 400m in 1:38, but I don't think that means he can run a 2:45 marathon.