TERRAPIN IS A TURTLE, TORTOISE IS A TURTLE, TURTLE IS A TURTLE, TOO BY ANDY WOOD PHOTOGRAPY BY ALLISON POTTER Seeing a terrapin in its wild habitat is a special treat that requires visiting a saltmarsh, including any of the grassy marshes behind our barrier islands and fringing the Intracoastal Waterway. Look for a bobbing turtle head in shallow water, especially near submerged cordgrass beds. As a kid growing up near the Connecticut coast, I explored the rocky shorelines and salt marshes of Long Island Sound, in search of whatever nature presented. The beaches offered limitless rocks to turn over, revealing colorful marine worms, various snails, their related limpet kin and numerous small crabs. In the salty marshes fringing sheltered shorelines and along the edges of coastal rivers, freshwater blended with salty seawater, forming complex estuarine habitats where I came to know a special little turtle, albeit from a distance. It was in these muddy marshes where I also learned the worth of boots; they did not keep my feet dry — they determined the depth at which I got wet. For me, salt marshes were mostly inaccessible places without the aid of a rowboat, which I did not have, and I still recall The sharp-edged bill framing this female diamondback terrapin’s mouth is all business when it comes to catching and eating small snails, crabs and worms. 32 WBM march 2014
2014-3
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