We have a grab-bag this Friday. First, one photo from Stephen Barnard in Idaho; his caption is indented:
Here’s a sunrise this morning, through the smoke of Sharps Fire burning 35,000 acres to the northeast.
From James Blilie, who took his own photos this time instead of sending his son Jamie’s bird pictures. Captions indented (photos were sent on April 21):
I’m not much of a wildlife photographer, I leave that to my 14-year old son Jamie, who is very keen on it. But I got a couple of shots from our recent trip to New Orleans (two weeks ago).
Raccoon (Procyon lotor):
American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis):
As you can see, we were on a “swamp tour” and the boar is very accustomed to people. And you can see why in this video [JAC: taken by James]:
And a reptile from Bob Felton. Can anyone identify it? Is it a box turtle?
A turtle, or tortoise, or something, out for a stroll around my wife’s glass office building – about 100-feet off a busy highway on the edge of Raleigh, North Carolina. There’s lots to see hereabouts, if you’re alert.
“Here’s a sunrise this morning, through the smoke of Sharps Fire burning 35,000 acres to the northeast.”
[speechless stare]
[ hormones of uncertain type pulse through torso ]
Last image appears to be an eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), which, according to our friends at Wikipedia, is a turtle and not a tortoise despite its terrestrial habit.
Agree. Looks almost like the eastern box turtle I rescued from the middle of a road a couple weeks ago.
I’ll second that, once had one I called Big Guy but I only kept it for one summer then released it.
Third. Mine was called Susie, and I had her for only a few weeks when I was about 6 weeks old. I think these can live a very long time, and so she may be out there still.
You’re ID is correct. As to why it’s a turtle, here’s a reprise of an earlier explanation on WEIT:
For the common names of these shelled reptiles, British and American usage diverges. In America, “tortoise” is applied to members of the family Testudinidae, the “true tortoises” (which are terrestrial). The word “terrapin” is applied to a single species, the Diamonbacked Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin, which inhabits coastal salt marshes along the east coast of the USA. Everything else is called a “turtle” (for example, the Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina, shown in the OP).
In Britain, “tortoise” is applied to all terrestrial species, which includes members of the Testudinidae, but also terrestrial members of other families (for example the Box Tortoise, Terrapene carolina, of the Emydidae). Fresh and brackish water aquatic chelonians are called “terrapins”, (for example the European Pond Terrapin (Emys orbicularis). “Turtle” usually means a sea turtle (for example, the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas).
There are also special common names, such as ridley, slider, and cooter. Some are used in both Britain and Ameirca (for example Kemp’s Ridley, Lepidochelys kempii, a type of sea turtle), while some are used in one but not the other (for example, the American name for Trachemys scripta elegans is the Red-eared Slider, while in Britain it is the Red-eared Terrapin).
These modal differences in British and American usage are not so much a code, but more what you call guidelines.
GCM
Now that you refresh my (failing) memory, I do recall the discussion of the differences in American and British usage. Thanks!
Would that not be a Terrapin? 🙂
Oops, somehow wrote before I read our host’s elaborate post.
Love the scarfing wild boar. A real jolie laide. Unfortunately I like to eat them, too.
That’s ok, in some circumstances wild boars like to eat bipedal mammals.
Sub
The box turtle appears to be a female. A male usually has a larger, boxy head and the head and front legs would be more brightly colored.
The boar appears to be a sow. 🙂
Here in Texas we call them feral hogs, and avoid that problem.
Feral hogs are the main reason that I wasn’t able to collect a box of pecans for PCC(E)’s squirrels this past year – they came through the ranch in droves and ate almost all the pecans. Also churned up and trenched the soil and turf around the roots, which seems like it might not be great for the trees.
They collectively called them “wild boar” as a species. Obviously is strictly incorrect to call a sow a boar. Just going with the local lingo.
Her nickname was “Little Mama”.
“Wild boar” also sounds better than “feral hog” if their meat is going to appear as a restaurant menu item. 😉
Yes, I know. In the UK we also refer to them collectively as wild boar. My comment was intended to be mildly humorous.
I like the grab bag RWP’s…something in there for everyone.
Yes, eastern box turtle.
A guided swamp tour sounds like a fun recreation. I’ve done one on my own in Florida…muddy, wet, hot, humid and buzzing with biting insects; and in spite of all that, it was still enjoyable.
It was highly artificial; but it was fun anyway. No bugs on ours, very reasonable temperature (early April). The highlight for me was seeing the alligators — I’d never seen them before.
All the animals were habituated to humans and the tour boats (which feed them).
The tour industry is pretty highly developed there in NOLA: They send buses around to the hotels to collect customers and drive them out and bring them back. Very low effort on the part of the tourists. It was what we were after, with our family group including an 82-year-old.
Interesting, thanks for the added information.
I saw alligators on the trip to Florida as well. Very impressive, seeing them in person.
Idaho is a state of such beautiful contrasts. For those interested in both Idaho and fires, I would heartily recommend the book The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America.
I believe the wild “boar” is actually a sow. Check out those teats.
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