Pond Sliders

Day 350: My last several visits to Lake St. Clair have generated invasive-species reports, and not solely of plants. The Pond Slider population is growing. Trachemys scripta is a non-native species, probably introduced into the lake when someone decided to release their pets into the wild. After spotting adults a couple of years ago, I got in touch with the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and was asked to monitor them for any evidence of reproduction. Normally, these turtles have a high mortality rate in our climate and die off before they can breed. However, this year I noticed several young Sliders near one island, and one adult in another arm of the lake. Day before yesterday, I counted four young and one adult in the two eastern arms. I suspect that warmer water temperatures are giving these turtles a leg up toward becoming a problem in western Washington.