# Turtle in water garden **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137 "2006-06-18T02:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/1 "2006-06-18T02:26:32Z")
I found a red eared slider in the pool tonight, about 6" long. There was a thunderstorm today, and I caught a glimpse of him afterwards. He crash dived when I walked up. 🙂 Tonight I found him with a flashlight. I wonder if he is one of the babies I saw a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/2 "2006-06-18T02:43:28Z")
Well, I’m glad you have a turtle in yer water. But what are you wondering about? Is it a swimming pool? What’s up? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/3 "2006-06-18T02:50:41Z")
It’s a water garden. A pool with water lilies and stuff. It’s your basic Mundane and Pointless Stuff I Must Share. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/4 "2006-06-18T02:56:24Z")
Congratulations! When I was still in the Vancouver area, the place I worked had a pond in the courtyard with turtles, goldfish, frogs, sometimes ducks, and (once in a while, early in the morning) a blue heron. It’s great to be able to watch the wildlife! (Even if the turtles and fish were introduced, it’s still fun.) ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/5 "2006-06-18T09:41:29Z")
Very cool! A lady down the street from me had mallard ducks nesting in her small pond, and occasionally the raccoons would eat her koi–just part of the deal, I guess. How wonderful that a turtle has chosen your water garden. You have your own little nature show. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/6 "2006-06-18T10:31:02Z")
I am all envious. How about a picture? Have you named him yet? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/7 "2006-06-18T13:54:38Z")
THAT was my secret. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/8 "2006-06-18T13:57:16Z")
Cool! but, Make sure it’s got a sturdy way to get in and out of the water and your pond. Someplace safe to hide, or it could be a raccoons dinner. How deep is your pond? Sliders hibernate over the winter at the bottom of ponds and shallow lakes, if yours isn’t deep enough it’ll be a turtlecicle ☹ ! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/9 "2006-06-18T14:51:22Z")
Excellent! I’ve been seeing lots of turtles lately. Unfortunately, they’ve all be two-dimensional, on the road. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/10 "2006-06-18T17:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Tonight I found him with a flashlight. He sounds pretty self-sufficient to me if he can go around with a flashlight. Where did he get it? 😃 We used to have a large 3/4 acre pond back east, but also a small koi pond right by the house, which was about 100 yards from the big pond. One day we noticed a box turtle making her way up the hill from the pond. Watched for quite a while, and eventually she got right by the deck and started digging in the sand. Got down quite a way and deposited a bunch of eggs, covered them up and went her way laboriously back to the pond. Looked up the gestation period, which was 80 days, so marked it on the calendar. At Day 79 started watching, and on Day 82, the first little guy came out of the sand. Really cute, about the size of a quarter. Kept watching and eventually six came out, making their way by pure instinct, I guess, downhill to the pond. We captured two of them and put them in our small koi pond. It had a part deep enough for the koi to survive the winter , and the turtles did too, as they prospered for a couple of years before we moved away. Even when they came out and walked around on the ground, they never seemed to want to migrate back to the big pond, to our surprise. Nature’s cool, eh? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/11 "2006-06-18T19:16:34Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > He sounds pretty self-sufficient to me if he can go around with a flashlight. Where did he get it? 😃 I dunno. It was a maglite, too. Someone is unhappy. > [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > One day we noticed a box turtle making her way up the hill from the pond. Are you sure she was a[box turtle?](http://boxturtlesite.org/) They are terrestrial. I’ve seen box turtles drowned in and rescued them from the water garden. Crowmanyclouds: The pool I saw him in is 2’-6" with lots of gunk on the bottom. The one I saw the alligator snapper in a couple of years ago is 3’ deep. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/12 "2006-06-18T19:51:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you sure she was a[box turtle?](http://boxturtlesite.org/) They are terrestrial. I’ve seen box turtles drowned in and rescued them from the water garden. Huh, I guess not ,now that I see that link. A neighbor told us it was, but obviously he was weak on taxonomy. I know it was not a snapper, as we had those too and there was a big difference. Whatever it was (mama was about 3.5"-4" diameter), they were amphibious. This was upstate New York, so guess I’ll never know now. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-in-water-garden/361137/13 "2006-06-18T20:13:36Z")
[This](http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f133/trevor51181/Picture048.jpg) is a red ear slider (on the left). His name is Sherman. He’s constantly in attack mode and is, unequivably, the Meanest Creature I’ve Ever Seen.