red-eared turtle

This is my little drawing of a Red-Eared Turtle, commonly found in the fresh waters of North America. It is inspired by my pet turtles.

It has been a rather cold winter and I made a short video of How to Keep Your Turtle Warm. If you have pet reptiles and an aquarium too, please feel free to check it out: https://youtu.be/yJQiEjiZ5bY

Let me know what you think :)

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illustration: red-eared slider

The Red-Eared Slider is another common fresh-water turtle in America. They can grow to a size of about 16 inches and can live up to 30 years, in the wild. Being cold-blooded reptiles, Red-Ears rely on the warmth of the sun to maintain their body temperatures. That is why is they can be found basking in large numbers on rocks or logs around ponds or lakes. My drawing shows one turtle enjoying a stone platform all to himself.

illustration: painted turtle

The Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) is the most common turtle in North America. They are omnivorous, eating aquatic vegetation, insects and small fish. Their preferred habitat is in slow-moving bodies of water. During the winter, they hibernate in the muddy bottom of ponds and lakes. Wild painted turtles can live as long as 50 years.

My drawing shows the painted turtle’s favorite past-time which is bathing under the warm hot sun, an important source of vitamin D, ensuring a healthy hard shell.

illustration: snapping turtle (v2)

Peak-a-boo!

drawing: snapping turtle

There is a bumper sticker that says “I Stop for Animals” to display, warning drivers that are behind. That statement holds true in my driving. So far, I’ve stopped for deer, geese, squirrels, and a chipmunk. But my crowning achievement, this summer, was stopping before a whopper-sized snapping turtle, and saving it. It just sat in the middle of the road, thinking that its shell will protect it. Sadly, a turtle shell is not that strong. Some truckers even find pleasure in running them over.

Anyway, for my turtle, I ran out of the car and was ready to pick it up by its tail. (Warning: never pick up a snapping turtle near its head, or even its side! They can and will chomp!) But as I approached it from behind, happily, the turtle advanced to the other side of the road to avoid me catching it. No harm to either of us. Whatever works, right?

Snappy went on his merry way toward a serene lake, nearby.

My drawing is of the snapping turtle, enjoying its home in a pond.

painted turtle

The clocks move an hour forward this weekend, and that means Spring is almost here.  (One more week to go.)  In honor of the return of warmer weather, I create a watercolour. It’s the first critter to emerge from hibernation, a Painted Turtle, now basking in the sun, peacefully in a remote pond.

sketch: turtle on rock

Sketch of a Red-Eared Turtle, sunbathing on a rock.