• Help Find Missing Turtles

    Painted Turtles basking on a log. / Jim Andrews

    Painted Turtles basking on a log. / Jim Andrews

    Vermont has a total of seven native turtle species. Painted Turtles are one of our most common turtle species. Yet, there are 64 towns without a verified Painted Turtle observation. Many of these are central Vermont mountain towns where Painted Turtles are likely to be less abundant, but they may well be present. Your mission is to find and document this turtle in the missing towns for the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, a project begun in 1994 to map the distribution of all reptiles and amphibians in the state.

    Painted Turtles can frequently be seen basking on logs or rocks in or along still water lakes and ponds. They are unusual in that hatchlings usually overwinter in the nest underground before emerging the following spring.

    Check the list of 64 towns with missing observations listed below and get out and explore, photograph and submit your sightings to iNaturalist Vermont. All observations in iNaturalist are shared with the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas and added to their database.

    But don’t just limit yourself to the missing towns. Photos of any turtle species from any place in Vermont help us to understand their distribution now and compare changes in the future.

    Painted Turtle sightings reported to the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas.

    Painted Turtle sightings reported to the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas.

    Towns Missing Painted Turtle Reports

    Andover
    Averill
    Averys Gore
    Baltimore
    Barre City
    Barton
    Bethel
    Bridgewater
    Brookline
    Brownington
    Burke
    Canaan
    Chester
    Danville
    Dover
    East Haven
    Fayston
    Glover
    Granby
    Granville
    Guildhall
    Hancock
    Hardwick
    Ira
    Killington
    Kirby
    Lemington
    Mendon
    Middlesex
    Middletown Springs
    Montgomery
    Mount Holly
    Newbury
    Newport Town
    Northfield
    Norton
    Orange
    Plymouth
    Readsboro
    Rochester
    Rupert
    Searsburg
    Shrewsbury
    Somerset
    St. Johnsbury
    Stannard
    Stockbridge
    Stratton
    Sutton
    Tinmouth
    Topsham
    Troy
    Vergennes
    Waitsfield
    Wardsboro
    Warners Grant
    Washington
    Waterbury
    Westfield
    Westmore
    Weston
    Whitingham
    Wilmington
    Woodford

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    Comments (6)

    1. Janet Peace says:

      I would like to report sightings of large painted turtles in Colton pond in Killington, Rutland County yesterday, the 5th August. Unfortunately I was unable to take any photographs.

      Killington is on your list of towns that have not yet reported painted turtles.

      https://vermont.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,2,fid,1460749,n,colton%20pond.cfm

    2. Lindsey Fowler says:

      We have a ton of painted turtles in our pond in West Topsham.

    3. MBL says:

      A painted turtle was found on our property on Lake Champlain in Georgia. It was about 7 inches in diameter.

    4. Denise Sanders says:

      We have a painted turtle laying her second clutch of eggs on our lawn in Northfield VT. We are protecting the nests from predators until a week before estimated hatching.

      • Joe says:

        Denise,

        Like clockwork every June snapping turtles come up and create multiple nests on our lawn here in Mount Tabor. Would love to protect the eggs because they are raided every year also like clockwork. What have you done? Have you build a fence around them?

        Joe

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