Murph is a yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) that I discovered in Tom Triplett Community Park in the Fall of 2016. At the time, she was about the size of a quarter and being attack by fire ants as she dispersed across the forest. I removed the ants, and started a 10-g aquarium for her, feeding her mealworms, some Gambusia, and, eventually, pellets until last summer as she approached a more robust size.

Barzini and Monstrego are two other pet turtles of the same species but a different sub-species: Trachemys scripta elegans. Both escaped in the Summer of 2015, but I recovered Barzini about a year and a half later.

Here, Nicole and I pose for Murph’s release.