Can you identify green fresh water turtle???

[CountryEscape]

OK, I have a question for all you pond experts! My sister and I drove past a very large light green (color of grass) turtle on the top of a lake dam near where I live. Fresh water, by the time I did a fast stop and backed up, it was gone, already down the sloping dam and into the water. I've never seen anything like it before, being used to red sliders in this area, and snappers.
Here's my best description (I have looked on google, searching "green fresh water turtle" and found nothing close):

Light green color, long neck, low to the ground shell (maybe he wasn't standing up higher?). His nose was rounded, not pointed. It had some lighter green and/or tan coloring on his neck and shell. Feet were not like the flippers of sea turtles, more like sliders. His shell was at least 20" long, and was oval in shape, not round. His neck was up high, searching for danger I suspect, and was maybe 8" long out of the shell.

As I said, he VERY quickly retreated to the water, as by the time I stopped and looked in my rear view mirror, he was already gone. I backed up and he was no where to be seen, as the slope to the concrete dam is about 25' from the water to the road, and he had obviously already reached the water.

Can anyone please help us identify it? I'm in south central Illinois, the lake he came out of is large, man-made, been there for probably 50 or 60 years I think, near Effingham, Illinois - Lake Sara.

If anyone can post a picture, I will be able to identify it. I'm extremely curious what it was, and wondering if possibly someone put a non-native turtle into the Lake and it has grown very large. I don't think I've ever seen such a large slider, as they typically are up to 12" long, and more rounded shell than this guy.

Thanks!

Patti

 

[Nova]

It sounds like a soft shelled turtle. They are very large and can be very aggressive but also very cool looking. These turtles are in Illinois as well as here in the carolinas. The one my family saw here had spots on it's back and was about at least 20" across.

 

[fishin4cars]

I thought of soft shell too, but their nose is very pointed. I've been looking and from the description I can't find anything in my north american reference that fits yet.

 

[fishin4cars]

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/animals_plants/herps/ilspecies.html

try clicking on each scientific name and i think a image will show up to help identify. That's the species list for Illinois.

 

[blessedfamily]

Blanding’s turtle maybe?

 

[CountryEscape]

View attachment 7438

Thanks, Fishin. From the website you directed me to, this is the closest to what we saw, and very similar to what Nova posted! It's called Apolone Spinifera - Spiny Softshell. This one pictured is more green than what Nova posted, and the one we saw was even a brighter, lighter green, but then I only saw it for a split second before I went past. It maybe was greener since it was in the grass, if they can change their shell color, but not sure turtles can change colors. We were both sure it did not have a pointed nose, but again, maybe we didn't notice the point, although it seemed to be looking across the road, so I should have seen his profile very well, but the point looks thin and easily missed.

OK, just noticed it says they get up to 38 cm, which, sadly, I had to look up. That's only 14", and I KNOW this turtle was far larger than that! I would still say it was at least 20" long. I'm still wondering if it is some other specie that is not native in this area, and possibly let loose into the lake by someone who had it as a pet or bought it at a pet store ..... still not certain, but this seems to be the closest. I sure wish we had gotten a picture of it! Darn ...

 

[fishin4cars]

That turtle near a road would be extremely rare, their shell is soft and they rarely ever leave the water and is it's usually in wet grass early in the morning or in sand or log right next to water. Colors do very greatly in the softshells, I've just seen some this weekend that were born from the same mother and father. some were green, soft tan, some dark brown. They do have very long necks, probably one of the longest necks in the species that you have in your area.

 

[CountryEscape]

As a description of this turtles neck, the way we both could remember was that it looked like a "cobra" snake! It was long, straight up from the shell, then the head itself was parallel to the road! Most of the pictures I see the neck and head are in on straight line, whereas what I'm describing is more like an "L" shape. Like I said, I've never seen anything like this along the road before. Fishin, I think it said it lays eggs in sandy places in May through July, so could it possibly have been going across the road to find a sandy place? I agree, I've seen this type of flat soft shell on logs and in the edge of water, NEVER along a road. But, he sure wasn't there very long .... Sure wish he had been a slow moving turtle.

 

[fishin4cars]

You know, when you say how fast it moved, soft shells can haul booty! lol They are extremely fast turtles when frightened. Could have been a very large one, May have been searching for new water or nesting site. That size may not be 100% accurate, I think I have seen some closer to the size you describe than the ones that list describe. I've seen several large soft shells over the years that would be near the 20" upper limit.

 

[Nova]

We have a huge soft shell in a pond at a park and it crosses over the walkway from the pond to get into the swampy area on the other side. When my husband first saw it he thought it was a snake because he first saw it's head and neck then with great speed flew down the bank and into the water.

 

[CountryEscape]

Nova, that must have been exactly how this one did it! He simply disappeared, and I'm positive he slid right down that dam concrete "ramp" and back into the lake. And, his neck was just like you say, like a cobra! The top of his head was bent parallel to the road, which was very different, more like you see a tortoise. But, I'm still thinking it must have been a soft shell, but the color was the lightest brightest green I've ever seen! Again, camera was not out and ready, although we would have gotten a pic had it still been there when I backed up, as my sister was on that side of the car, and had her camera in hand before I got car stopped! LOL

 

[DrCase]

We have some big soft shells here also i do see them on logs getting a little sun once and a while
Having been on lake Sara last month and knowing the top of the Dam is not that high off the water, i could see it go up there to look around and sun for a short while

 

[CountryEscape]

Yes, that's true, Dr. Case, it's not that tall, and not that steep either. I think we shocked him driving by, and off he went. If you're ever in our area again, Dr. Case, you're welcome to stop by for a glass of tea and view of my project. I'm always up for company that is interested in the pond, and always soaking in information from others!

 

[DrCase]

Its funny how things get smaller 36 years ago the dam looked a lot bigger
the Lake looks great up there

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, I've not been able to get on the Forum for 3 days, now see that it's been changed. I love change, but why have the "reply" at the top of the page, rather than at the bottom, where you're reading? Also, I have had no e-mails for the last 3-4 days showing that anyone responded to threads I had responded to, so wondering if that has changed as well. Do I need to redo something? And, where did my profile pic go? Guess I need to put in a new one? Is there a page where I can go to read about the changes, and what I need to do to make things back to where they were, or are the changes what works best for everyone? I'll get used to it, no problem, but I feel very left out for the last few days. I know change is good, and I'll adjust, just don't want to miss out when someone responds to a thread I've asked a question about something, like this!
I have a red slider baby turtle in my pond. It's about 2" in length, and was in the skimmer last night and again this morning. I guess he'll figure out how to stay out of there eventually.
My question, is it ok to let him stay? I'm not concerned about him eating any fry if/when I get some, and I think they are vegetation eaters, but I'm most concerned about my liner in the future. Will he try to "dig in" for the winter? I'm pretty sure snappers do that, so will get rid of any snappers (besides I know snappers are meat eaters!), but wondering if it's ok to let this little guy stay. I can easily put him out in my farm pond, if it's a problem.