Funny Fishing Story But Now Need Help!

[Brewster320]

I posted this in the field herping forum but got no feedback so I figured this would be my next best bet!

Ok this is a long, yet interesting story about my day. Well to day I was home doing nothing and my younger brother, Owen (11), starts having a conversation with me and eventually asks me if I want to go fishing down at local farm. They have some animals for the kids by mainly its and orchard and its like in the middle of the city but its a quiet wooded suburban area so its nice place to go and not to far from where I live, I usually go herping down there as well. Well I though I'd be a good big brother and go fishing with him for awhile.

When we got down there, we went through the orchard, and got to the pond we set up and put out lines out and set up some minnow traps we had made out of coke bottles. Well after an hour into we have caught nothing but we knew there were fish because of all the jumping and splashing they were doing so it was very annoying. Then finally Owen got a bite and tried to real it in. You could tell there was something huge on the line but it wasn't fighting like a big fish plus this isn't a very big pond so I wasn't expecting any real big fish. Well eventually I grabbed the line with my hands and started pulling it in. As it started to get into the shallower water I could see the round shape come out of te murky depths. At this point I knew it was a turtle and I was thinking to myself "Oh great hes got a snapping turtle". But then as the turtle got closer it poked its head of of the water I could see its dead give away markings on its head. I jumped down into the water because I didn't want to loose it and I grabbed it an brought it up onto land. Sure enough it was a huge Red Eared Slider.

Now as a person who can name all the native reptiles of Massachusetts off the top of my head I knew Red Ears aren't a Native Species. I know there are some introduced populations in part of the state but this is the first time I have ever seen one in my city so I beilive this one was somebody's pet who just brought it down to the pond and realeased it. At the size she is she is definately a female(12" shell length), I have a size 13 shoe and shes as big as my shoe! Also I believe she is gravid becuase she has to large, ping pong ball shapes the are between her tail and back legs on both sides. I'm not completely sure on that(turtle experts help me out!) but the thing that scares me is if she is gravid that means there is likely atleast 1 more turtle in that pond. I'm afraid that if there are more Red Ears there that they could eventually spread to other larger ponds in my area where there are very large populatiuons of native turtle such as painteds, musks, snappers, and even a small population of spotted turtles(which are threatened in MA) and out compete them for food, basking, and nesting sites(especially the poor little spotteds). Any body have any thought of something I could do, like should I report this or something? I'd be really upset if they spread into other ponds and wiped out the native turtles.

After we caught her I cleaned off the leeches she had on her, took the hook out of her cheek (she never actually bit it but some how got it stuck in her cheek?), checked her over, took some pictures, and brought her home until I can figure out what to do with her. For now shes in a plastic kiddy pool with a lay box full of a sand coconut fiber mixture I made for nestin/basking spot, a lamp, and a chicken wire ramp thats held down with large rocks. It is kind of makeshift but its the best that I can do for now. Any help, info, or advise would be great! Thanks!

[DutchHerp]

You could go snorkeling if the water isn't too murky and get all of them out. It could take some time, but it'd be worth it.

Later, Matt

[Brewster320]

You could go snorkeling if the water isn't too murky and get all of them out. It could take some time, but it'd be worth it.

Later, Matt

Not something I would do there, the water is murky, weedy,and full of leeches.

[DutchHerp]

Just last night a man told me that when he was a kid in Louisiana, the turtles LOVED raw bacon.

I'd say, go fishin' for invasives!

Later, Matt

[blackcrystal22]

You could come up here and release them all in Illinois. We wouldn't mind. They're native up here anyway.

Even though they're invasive, I'm not sure how effective they are against the other wildlife. This is a single pond were talking about, and that turtle is a couple years old. If your still seeing populations of painted, musks, and spotteds then I wouldn't be too concerned. It's possible the person who released it released two, because often, people buy them in pairs.

Because they are native to the US, and up here in IL we have some small species of turtles like painted as well, I don't think they'd be severely impacting on the environment, but hey, I could be wrong.
Moving an animal a few states in comparison to moving one across continents just seems like a bit of a difference to me.

Edit: In fact, after looking up some information on them again, they are native to states surrounding Massachusetts, except for Georgia. They have actually spread from state-to-state as well over time and are in many non-native states surrounding their original native states.

[Brewster320]

You could come up here and release them all in Illinois. We wouldn't mind. They're native up here anyway.

Even though they're invasive, I'm not sure how effective they are against the other wildlife. This is a single pond were talking about, and that turtle is a couple years old. If your still seeing populations of painted, musks, and spotteds then I wouldn't be too concerned. It's possible the person who released it released two, because often, people buy them in pairs.

Because they are native to the US, and up here in IL we have some small species of turtles like painted as well, I don't think they'd be severely impacting on the environment, but hey, I could be wrong.
Moving an animal a few states in comparison to moving one across continents just seems like a bit of a difference to me.

They are only in one isolated pond and from what I can tell shes pretty old. My reasearch is telling me that females reach maturity at 5 years and 5 inches. Currently shes 12" and weighs 5 1/2 pounds. So who knows how long shes been there, she could be older then me for all i know (17). I'm not sure how they would effect the ecosystem and other turtle but all the years I've been to that pond I've never seen a painted turtle while just a few minute walk to another pond theres tons of them, I'm not saying the sliders are the reason for this but I think its odd. This female could probably swallow a baby painted turtle whole if she wanted to! I mean painted turtles in states with sliders have evolved to co-exist with them, the painteds up here have not so I think thats probably the difference.

[Brewster320]

Good News! I recently discovered that she is not gravid and what I thought where eggs are actually her leggs bone. So thats good news which means hopefully there aren't any other sliders there so now I only need to worry about this 1 turtle!