{"id":835,"date":"2013-02-04T09:41:51","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T14:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=835"},"modified":"2025-05-14T21:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T01:05:13","slug":"ontario-blandings-turtle-black-blobs-yellow-underneath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/ontario-blandings-turtle-black-blobs-yellow-underneath\/","title":{"rendered":"What Rare Ontario Turtle has Large Black Blobs on a Yellow Shell on the Underside?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a>Many people living in Ontario can recognize a Painted Turtle when they see it. They have rather shiny black backs when they pile up on logs to sun. The yellow and red markings on the neck and face and the little red marks along the edge of the shell are also pretty obvious. But some of the other Ontario turtles are not quite so easy to identify. They may be more rare or more shy and so we don\u2019t see them as much. One, in particular, has a pretty colourful underside. The plastron is yellow with large black blobs like ink splots on it. But what is it?<\/p>\n

The top, or carapace, of this turtle may have faint yellow markings as well. If the turtle is clean, it usually has a vivid yellow throat that includes under the jaw. (I\u2019ve seen ones, though, where the algae and mud on the turtle make this much less obvious than you\u2019d expect.) It can grow fairly large, up to about 27 cm in length, according to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

So what is it?
\nA Blanding\u2019s Turtle.<\/p>\n

Are Blanding’s Turtles Common in Ontario?<\/h2>\n

\"Photo<\/a>Blanding\u2019s Turtles are listed as a Threatened species by the MNR in Ontario. According to the MNR, they are particularly at risk because they don\u2019t start reproducing (laying eggs) until they are about 20 years old or more. They also travel great distances across land from one marshy area to another. These walks often cross roads where they can be killed by vehicles.<\/p>\n

We often find a large Blanding\u2019s Turtle when vacationing in Eastern Ontario near Sharbot Lake. When we do, we take a few photos but quickly release it back in the same place. (Well, if it was crossing a road we release it on the side it was heading towards!)<\/p>\n

What Do Blanding’s Turtles Eat?<\/h2>\n

\"Photo<\/a>According to the MNR, Blanding\u2019s Turtles eat aquatic insects, crustaceans, molluscs and vegetation. So I guess that might include the snails and clams that are common in the lakes around Sharbot Lake. The Ontario Nature site says that they also eat crayfish, frogs and fish. Those are also all plentiful in the area where we meet Blanding\u2019s.<\/p>\n

If you find one of these curiously beautiful reptiles, please handle it as little as possible and release it about where you found it, providing it will be safe there.<\/p>\n

And then, if you can, send in a report to a site like iNaturalist.ca which has replaced Turtle Tally. The more reports received the clearer picture people can develop of where the turtles of Ontario are and how they are doing.<\/p>\n

Join In<\/strong>
\nHave you found a Blanding\u2019s when it\u2019s on walk-about? Please share your experiences with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn more about a Threatened Ontario turtle that eats crayfish, aquatic insects, plants and goes walk-about into unexpected places. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[75,74,36],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","tag-blandings-turtle","tag-reptiles","tag-turtles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9653,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions\/9653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}