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Turtles & Tortoises 23 images Created 3 Apr 2012

Images of turtles and tortoises found and photographed across North America by wildlife photographer Rich Leighton.
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  • Close-up of Florida's threatened and endangered gopher tortoise. This old male in Estero was the biggest we've ever seen.
    Florida Gopher Tortoise
  • A western pond turtle basks in the sun on a beautiful California day on Lower Klamath Lake near the Oregon border. Listed as a vulnerable/threatened species, these small turtles are slow-growing, often maturing at around 10 years old and are taking a hard hit from invasive bird and animal species - especially bullfrogs and bass.
    Western Pond Turtle
  • A pair of spiny softshell turtles - probably the Texas subspecies (Apalone spinifera emoryi)  which is only found near the Rio Grande - keeping a wary eye out for alligators in a pond in next to Estero Llano Lake in Weslaco, Texas. Large with a somewhat flexible, leathery shell, the spiny softshell turtle and all of it's subspecies can be found in most freshwater lakes, rivers and ponds where the water is clean and has a range from Southern Canada to Mexico in mostly the Eastern and Central part of the continent.
    Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spin..era)
  • Close cousin of the more recognizable red-eared slider, the yellow-bellied slider is very common and seen in virtually any freshwater habitat in Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Northern Florida.
    Yellow Bellied Slider
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 5
  • Florida Cooter catching some rays in Paynes Prairie State Park, Alachua County, Fl.
    Florida Cooter
  • A pair of yellow-bellied sliders sun themselves on a sunny winter day on the Chattahoochee River in Southeastern Alabama.
    Yellow-bellied Sliders
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 3
  • The yellow-bellied slider is the most common freshwater turtle found in the American Southeast. Because they remain relatively small and are very hardy, they are very popular in the pet industry. This one was photographed just outside of Dothan, Alabama on the Chattahoochee River.
    Yellow-bellied Slider
  • This old gopher tortoise was found in Estero, Florida in an area with a large healthy population. Taking a break from some recent digging, this one was covered in packed, stained sand, common underground in pine scrub habitats.
    Gopher Tortoise Portrait
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 1
  • The eastern chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia reticularia) is a subspecies of the common chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia) that is found throughout most of the American Southeast that is often found in wetlands, lakes and marshes. This one was found and photographed in Southwest Florida  moving overland from one pond to another in the Fakahatchee Strand - part of the northern Florida Everglades watershed system. An easy identification tool is to look for the thick yellow stripe on the forelimb, and as to its common name - the early settlers who caught and ate them thought they tasted like chicken.
    Eastern Chicken Turtle
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 2
  • A pair of native Florida redbelly cooters bask in the sun just outside of Miami in the Florida Everglades. These small river turtles reach about 12 inches in length and are found only in Florida, except a couple places on the southern border in Georgia.
    Florida Redbelly Cooters
  • This endemic subspecies of the eastern box turtle is found only in Florida except for a few small pockets in the extreme southern part of Georgia. I found this female in the oak scrub in the bluffs above the Apalachicola River in an extremely rural part of northern Florida.
    Florida Box Turtle
  • This endemic subspecies of the eastern box turtle is found only in Florida except for a few small pockets in the extreme southern part of Georgia. I found this female in the oak scrub in the bluffs above the Apalachicola River in an extremely rural part of northern Florida.
    Florida Box Turtle
  • A western pond turtle basks in the sun on a beautiful California day on Lower Klamath Lake near the Oregon border. Listed as a vulnerable/threatened species, these small turtles are slow-growing, often maturing at around 10 years old and are taking a hard hit from invasive bird and animal species - especially bullfrogs and bass.
    Western Pond Turtle
  • This endemic subspecies of the eastern box turtle is found only in Florida except for a few small pockets in the extreme southern part of Georgia. I found this female in the oak scrub in the bluffs above the Apalachicola River in an extremely rural part of northern Florida.
    Florida Box Turtle
  • This endemic subspecies of the eastern box turtle is found only in Florida except for a few small pockets in the extreme southern part of Georgia. I found this female in the oak scrub in the bluffs above the Apalachicola River in an extremely rural part of northern Florida.
    Florida Box Turtle
  • A common, yet threatened keystone species of the pineland scrubs of Florida, the gopher tortoise is extremely important to so many of the species it lives with, tremendous conservation efforts are being put into place to save this vulnerable animal and its habitat. This long-lived and only native North American tortoise is found throughout much of the coastal Southeast, and the most important thing it does for its home is dig. Gopher tortoises dig enormous burrows that can be up to 50 feet long and nearly 10 feet deep, and not only just one burrow. Over the area of several acres, it can build many burrows to suit its needs over a lifetime. These tunnels keep it safe from predators, cool in summer, warm in winter, and more importantly - become homes and shelters for other species who have evolved to take advantage of this master burrower's talents. Biologists have named at least 360 species that rely on these burrows for their own livelihood, such as foxes, skunks, rattlesnakes, etc.... This one was photographed near the Estero River in Estero, Florida.
    Gopher Tortoise
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 4
  • Very common across all of Florida, as well as in lower elevations along the Georgia, Virginia and Carolina coasts, the Florida cooter is a medium to large freshwater turtle. Known for its large social groups these turtles are often seen basking together on logs in large numbers in the sun - often alongside alligators.
    Florida Cooter
  • A very active Texas tortoise mows through the vegetation on a hot late-summer afternoon near the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. These close relatives to the Florida gopher tortoise are found across South Texas and eastern Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and northeastern San Luis Potosi in Mexico.
    Texas Tortoise 6