Four, count ’em four, Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta) were basking in the tiny, northernmost pond on Pier One at Brooklyn Bridge Park the other day. Fools keep releasing these invasive, potentially disease-carrying pet-trade animals. Some do it for religious (!) reasons! The effects of all this can be seen in the water course in Prospect Park. There were three dozen RES basking recently in the Pools. (I once counted 70 in the Lullwater.) Two Painted Turtles, a species native to the region, were seen among the most recent crowd, but the real discovery this day was this young Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina).
I’ve seen snappers as little as a silver dollar and as big as a Fiat — no, make that a minibus — but not in-between, at least here in Brooklyn. Glad to see there are other generations in the mix. 
The carapace (top shell) was about 6″ long. Snappers aren’t normally a basking species — but the winter was cold! — which is why it’s hard to say how many young ones there are in the park.
Young Snap
4 responses to “Young Snap”
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[…] spotless shell, which I attribute to chorine in the water (yes, it’s tap water). Here’s a little one in the Prospect Pools. Here’s a tiny one I found crossing the road a few years ago in […]
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[…] record-breakers. And have they got a lot of neck! Evidently, they’re sometimes mistaken for young Snappers, but the practiced eye will disabuse that notion. I read that they’re the only mud turtle in […]
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Reblogged this on Backyard and Beyond and commented:
For Prospect Park’s 150th anniversary, I’m reposting discoveries from the archive in celebration. Here’s a young Snapper from 2015:
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[…] Most of the turtles in Brooklyn are refugees from the pet industry. It’s actually illegal to sell them if they have smaller than 4″ carapaces, but we’ve all seen sidewalk hustlers selling tiny ones. (In Boston, I met a turtle who was given away as a wedding reception gift; every table got some.) This is why there are oodles of Red-eared Sliders in Prospect Park — released by fools with buyer’s regret. But what about Snapping Turtles, who are, unlike the Sliders, native to this part of the country? Over the years, I’ve seen a few, some of them enormous. Some of the more medium-sized ones been released by local reptile-rescuers. Before this weekend, the smallest I’d seen was this one in 2015. […]
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