North Carolina is home to a variety of turtles. Several species of sea turtles visit our coastline. Here in Piedmont, 9 species of turtles make their home. In our turtle bog, we have Yellowbelly Sliders, Painted Turtles, and one Spiney Softshell Turtle. The Painted Turtles are smaller with dark shells and red markings around the edges. The Yellowbelly Sliders are the much larger turtles with yellow markings on their sides. The Spiney Softshell is very seldom visible. This species likes to lie on the bottom and stretch it’s long neck up to the surface to breathe.
All of these species are omnivores eating both plants and small animals such as crayfish, insects, mollusks, frogs, and fish.
Turtles lay their eggs on dry land in a hole that they dig and then cover back up. The young hatch independent of the mother and immediately begin searching for food and a place to live at a nearby stream, pond, or lake.