Weyers Wildlife Wonders is a blog series curated by Ms. Jessica Weyer, Pennsylvania Agriscience Teacher, as part of her individual professional development plan. Here previous installments:
Encounters Part 2 – Domestic Pets
Today we had the opportunity of going to a Bugis house. No, I did not spell Buddhist wrong this is one the of the ethnic groups that are found in Malaysia [Learn more here]. When I walked into the house, I noticed there was a small tank of three smaller turtles. Turtles! As I got closer, I thought that they looked familiar.
These turtles are all indeed red-eared sliders. This is a very common species found in Pennsylvania. I had so many questions about these turtles. When we departed the Bugis house I used one of the Malaysian student’s phone and did some quick research. I learned a lot so here is what I learned
- Red-eared sliders are native to the southern United States and northern Mexico.
- The most popular pet turtle in the world
- Most commonly traded turtle in the world
- On the list of the top 100 most invasive species in the WORLD
In the early 1900’s these turtles were captured out of the lower Mississippi river basin and marketed as a great, cute, small, and easy to care for a pet and sold all over the US and eventually the world by the 1950’s. Millions of these turtles were being shipped all over the world. The popularity of these turtles exploded when the popular comic Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles were revealed to actually be red-eared sliders.
This all becomes a problem when people get tired of taking care of a pet and release them into the wild. These turtles currently found in the wild in most of the US, and in pockets in Europe and Asia. When in the wild the red-eared sliders aggressive feeding and high reproduction rates are competing with the native turtle populations.
Wow, I learned a lot from a pet in a Bugis house!
Below are some pictures that I have taken of wildlife. I would love some help in identifying the species below. Please comment if you can help.
Jessica Weyer (@JessWeyer) is a secondary agriscience teacher from Pennsylvania.
Great catch on the Red-Eared Sliders! I totally missed them in the Bugis house.
oh my god , its very a great day because I had taste durian which is the fruit that i very dont like it .. hahahaah …. thanks for supporting me to eat that durian , it be very great moment with all of you guys 🙂
i have once had a pet turtle. i had 2 of them but after a few moths, they died because the pet shop give me 2 male turtles. instead of a male and a female turtle. maybe they died because they feel lonely.
The turtles are afraid of us maybe because they see americans for the first time…lol 🙂
I do not know anything about pets. And I do not like animals. I’m very curious to see tha americans excited to see the animals but after recognizing them I also feel excited to see their reaction to the animal