Cute or not? Albino baby turtle

Photo: AFP - Getty Images

Video: Absurdly cute

Did you know that turtles could fly?



From Flickr, by smallflightlessbird

Cute or not? Punk rock turtle

This is a Mary River Turtle, one of the most unusual reptiles of its type on the planet.

The Mary River Turtle has become a popular figure with Australian environmentalists who say the endangered creature is being further threatened by Queensland State Government's plans to build a dam on the river.

It is one of the more unusual species of turtles as it breathes through lung-like structures in its tail and needs shallow water to survive.

It was described formally by scientists only in 1994 and little is known about it.

The hairsute creature was captured by amateur photographer Chris Van Wyk as it quietly waded in the shallows.

Source: Mail OnLine

Let's hope turtle soup wasn't on the menu

About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a conservation worker said on Monday.

The baby turtles -- which ended up under the tables of startled diners at the beachside restaurant -- were probably thrown off track and lured by the eatery's bright lights, said Antonio Colucci, who was called to help rescue the group.

"They saw the artificial lights and took the wrong route," said Colucci, who works on a turtle monitoring project for the conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).

"The diners were at first quite curious and then someone alerted the coastal authorities."

The stranded turtles, which had hatched on a beach in the southern Italian region of Calabria, were released into the sea.

Photo: Paulo Siqueira / Reuters

Source: Yahoo news

A Two-Headed Turtle Is Stolen in Brooklyn

An animal shelter's mascot — a rare two-headed turtle — was taken Sunday evening from the Hamilton Dog House, an animal shelter and pet supply store on East Third Street in Brooklyn.

Sean Casey, owner of the rescue and store, said it must be specially fed by hand — or the two heads will fight over the food.

"We just want the turtle back," Casey said Monday. "We're worried about his health."

Concerned customers have donated more than $1,000 as a reward for returning the reptile unharmed.

Photo: Sean Casey Animal Rescue

Source: New York Times

One of those days?

I went into the gas station today and
asked for five dollars worth of gas.

The clerk farted and gave me a receipt.

Rare turtle discovered in Viet Nam

Researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have discovered a rare giant turtle in northern Vietnam, giving scientists hope for the species they believed was extinct in the wild.

The scientists from the Cleveland Zoo discovered the Swinhoe's soft-shelled turtle when they followed up reports from villagers of a mythical creature living in a lake. Vietnamese legend tells of a huge turtle that helped the country fight off Chinese invaders in the 16th century. "This is one of those mythical species that people always talked about but no one ever saw," said the zoo's curator.

Only three other specimens of this turtle are known of by scientists: there are two in Chinese zoos and one in Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of Hanoi.

Scientists refused to provide the name of the lake or other details about the position of this turtle because of concerns the turtle would be illegally hunted.

Source: The National Register

First it was dogs; now . . . turkeys?

While rain and snow may not deter the postal service, wild turkeys are a bird of a different feather.

Between five and 10 large male turkeys, or toms -- apparently a little giddy with the onset of turkey breeding season -- have been bullying postal workers as they make their rounds, pecking at them and even trying to rough them up with the sharp spurs on their legs. One of the birds launched itself through the open door of a mail truck and scratched the driver.

Eric Lobner, regional wildlife program supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is on the case, investigating the turkey gang.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal

Pet Turtles Linked to Rise in Salmonella Infections

The sale of small turtles has been banned in the United States since 1975, but the number of these reptiles being purchased for children has been increasing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Small pet turtles were to blame for 103 cases of Salmonella infection in the second half of last year, mostly in young children, but the true number of infections with the potentially fatal bacteria is undoubtedly much higher.

Many people aren't aware of the risk of Salmonella infections from pet turtles. Only 20 percent of these cases said they were aware there was a connection between Salmonella infection and reptile exposure.

Source: U.S. News

You think your favorite restaurant is too far to drive?

A leatherback sea turtle recently completed the longest recorded migration of any sea vertebrate: 12,774 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

The giant reptile began the trek in Indonesia's warm tropical waters in the summer of 2003 and traveled 647 days just to eat jellyfish off Oregon, in the cool waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Source: National Geographic

Rare leatherback sea turtles hatch in Walton, FL

Walton County’s fi rst-ever documented leatherback sea turtle nest has hatched, and 23 babies have made their way safely to the Gulf of Mexico.

After 79 days of close watch by the South Walton Turtle Watch Group, Walton County’s sea turtle nest No. 12, located in Seagrove just west of Seagrove Villas, came to life Oct. 6 following the day’s heavy rain.

At 9:15 p.m., Turtle Watch Volunteer Joe Burton checked on the nest and found a tiny flipper coming out of the sand. After making several phone calls, Burton, fellow volunteer Sharon Maxwell, and 23 other spectators crowded around the nest as the baby sea turtles slowly emerged and crawled into the water.

“A truly awesome sight,” Maxwell said.

Turtle Tipping Tricks Revealed

With a flat shell, the Argentine snake-necked turtle (Hydromedusa tectifera) often rights itself by pressing its head against the ground with its muscular neck, levering itself onto its belly. Credit: Gaabor Domokos.

For turtles, lying belly-up is a helpless, life-threatening situation.

Now it appears many turtles evolved shells with unique shapes to easily help them flip back onto their bellies if they find themselves on their backs.

"Before starting this project, I always thought animals such as turtles worked hard to right themselves, and what this showed was this need not be the case—they can just have a good shape for their shell that does most of the work," applied mathematician Peter Varkonyi at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary told LiveScience.

An abundance of turtles

More than 1,300 baby sea turtles -- the majority from Volusia County -- have washed ashore, leaving the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet overrun with hatchlings that need to be rehabilitated.

Michelle Bauer, sea turtle rehab specialist at the center, said the last time this many hatchlings came ashore was during Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

The hatchlings, mostly green sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles, were brought back ashore by a tropical storm system and started appearing about a week ago. Most washed up, exhausted, on the beach amid lines of seaweed.

The turtles will be returned to the ocean--about 20 to 40 miles off shore--once the seas calm down.

Photo: Roberto Gonzalez, Orlando Sentinel

Two-headed turtle goes on display

A two-headed turtle captured by a turtle collector is a rare example of a conjoined-twin birth, its owner said.

The turtle would have likely died in the wild because it swims awkwardly and would be an easy target for predators, according to Jay Jacoby, manager of Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in East Norriton.

The store bought the tiny turtle from the collector for an undisclosed price and will keep it on display, he said.

Baby dies of salmonella from pet turtle

A three-week-old girl died of salmonella transmitted by a pet turtle, while 22 other people have been infected by the reptiles across the United States since September, health authorities said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed the incidents in a weekly report dated Friday reminding Americans of the health risks associated with small turtles, whose sale was banned in 1975 because they can infect children.

The infant girl was taken to a Florida hospital, where she was in febrile and in septic shock, on February 20.

She was given antibiotics but died on March 1.

Tiny pet turtles could make a comeback

The red-eared slider was the "it" pet for generations of kids until tiny turtles were banned more than 30 years ago because they shed salmonella. Later this week, Congress will decide if these baby reptiles are ready for a comeback.

The sale of turtles with shells smaller than 4 inches was banned in 1975 because the sweet-faced reptiles harbored a dirty little secret: They shed salmonella. Kids became infected with the dangerous germ after putting their turtle-tainted fingers — or the turtles themselves — in their mouths. Regulators figured by banning turtles smaller than 4 inches, they’d curb the pet’s popularity, and at least bigger shells wouldn’t be able to fit into kids’ mouths.

Before the ban went into place in 1975, an estimated 100,000 cases of salmonella sickness occurred each year as the result of baby turtles and other pet reptiles, Sundlof says. Since the tiny-turtle prohibition, that number has gone down by about a quarter.

Turtle's dinner table escape provides clues on habits

A giant sea turtle saved from the dinner table by a Chinese priest swam 3,000 kilometres into a sanctuary in Japan, providing researchers a valuable insight into the species travel habits.

The priest had carved a message onto the green sea turtle's shell which a Japanese conservation group used to trace its odyssey back to the province of Guangdong in southern China.

"We found out for the first time that green sea turtles from Japan also travel and live in the waters off mainland China, which is important to know," said Hiroyuki Suganuma, chairman of the non-governmental group.

Video: Cats and Turtles and Tortoises

#1 - The killer tortoise
A tortoise defends it's territory against invading cats.

#2 - Cat vs Tortoise
Great discoveries in a young cat's life: tortoises are dull and water is wet.

#3 - my cat and turtle
It seems that the turtle loves the cat though cat is not interested in the turtle at all

Atlanta Zoo Breeds Endangered Turtle

Zoo Atlanta hatched a rare Arakan forest turtle this week, a victory for researchers trying to save the endangered species — one shell at a time.

The hatchling is the fourth of the brown-and-tan spotted reptiles born there in the last six years, zoo officials said Tuesday. Two hatchlings have died, and another egg is near hatching.

The zoo is the only facility in the world successfully breeding the Arakan forest turtle, which is one of the planet's most critically endangered species. They were believed to be extinct for close to a century, but the turtles appeared in Asian food markets in the mid-1990s.

Scientists blame the rapid disappearance of the Arakan forest turtle — much like other shelled reptiles — on their popularity in Asia for cooking and medicinal purposes.

(photo credit: St Louis Zoo)

Great Turtle Race

Leatherback sea turtles are 100 million years old.

They may only have ten years left.

Find out how you can help.

Eleven leatherback turtles are swimming across the Pacific Ocean to the Galapagos Islands in a "race" that will be tracked online to draw attention to the plight of the endangered creatures.

The turtles have been tagged with satellite communication devices that give their positions as they head south from their nesting sites on Costa Rica's Playa Grande beach to feeding grounds near the Galapagos, about 950 miles away.

Online participants can choose a turtle and track its course at http://www.greatturtlerace.com/ from April 16 with the winner being the animal that travels furthest in two weeks of swimming.

There is no prize for the winner of the race, aimed at highlighting the dangers facing a creature that has graced the oceans for 100 million years.

Photo: Fiona Cuthbert