Coming up for air

The red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, Tortue de Floride in French, is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae.
It is a subspecies of pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and also popular in the rest of the world. Wikipedia

There are hundreds of these down at the lakes that I go to and I always know if anybody has passed by the lake as there are no sliders sunning themselves on the fallen trees in the water - which is a sign to keep a look out for wildlife - if they are in the water there is no way that there will be an animal to surprise or be surprised by.

Apparently they are an introduced species - I guess the Florida part is a bit of a giveaway in the French name ... fishermen hate them - they say they eat all the fish eggs etc., etc. - they also hate herons, egrets, otters, kingfishers and probably even Bobby Charlton ...

These often grow quite big and seem to thrive here - there are a lot of them, and they just love dozing in the sun on a log - which seems quite reasonable, in my view.

Hope your Monday was good :)