This one is much bigger than the one I saw last week. At least 12 inches long carapace (more pictures under the fold). What's the species?
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Looks like a box turtle (terrapene carolina bauri) to me, Bora. They can live over 100 years.
That's a huge-ass motherfucking turtle!!!
No, not a box turtle. That's a slider of the yellow-bellied variety, Trachemys scripta scripta. Looking for a nice place to nest, no doubt.
voting painted turtle -- Bora, next time you want to ID the turtle, turn it over, too!
But this one was biiiig! And already not happy with all of the attention and photography...
definitely not a box turtle. Slider of some sort (red ear?)
Definately a slider. How very neat, I miss seeing wildlife come tromping through my yard.
My daughter has a red eared slider nearly that big, living in aquarium.
Nice turtle - probably a female at that size! Judging by the stripe on her face and notched rear scutes, I'd guess Trachemys scripta elegans, the red-eared slider. Did it ever stick its head out any further? The red "ear" is a dead give-away.
No, she was camera-shy so did not extend the neck any further out than this.
Almost certainly Trachemys scripta subspecies - assuming that you are in North America or one of the many localities of introduction, and given the pattern on the carapace and it's serrated posterior margin, and what head markings are visible... Without a good view of the head and plastron, it is hard to tell which subspecies. The bold pattern on the carapace in such a large individual suggest yellow-bellied to me. Most red-eared that I have seen get much darker with age.
North Carolina. It's a yellow-belly. Seriously.