Sunbathing Terrapins Reflected
by Kathleen Bishop
Title
Sunbathing Terrapins Reflected
Artist
Kathleen Bishop
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Fine art wildlife photograph capturing a Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) sunbathing on a log beside a native Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata or Emys marmorata). The turtles, and their glassy reflections, seem to delight in the companionable peace of a sunny winter afternoon.
Because they are poikilotherms, these reptiles are unable to regulate their body temperature so they depend on sunbathing to maintain body warmth. In colder winter climates they brumate, rather than hibernate, usually by sinking to the bottom of a pond where they enter a state of sopor until they can re-emerge in the warmth of spring.
Prior to 1975 when the FDA restricted the sale of Red-eared Sliders, they were the most common species of turtle sold in the pet trade. Over the years a great number of them have escaped or have been released in the wild where they have begun to outcompete native species in some areas. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has included Red-eared Slider in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species. Apparently these turtle friends didn't get the memo.
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©Kathleen Bishop. kathleen-bishop.pixels.com. All Rights Reserved.
Uploaded
February 24th, 2016
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Viewed 721 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/21/2024 at 9:08 AM
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