Harold!

Meet Harold! On Saturday afternoon, my mother and I were outside in our backyard. We are no strangers to wildlife in our backyard, as we are near a hydro field, in an area with lots of trees and lots of space for birds, squirrels, raccooons, possums, and even the occassioanl coyote to roam. 

About 30 minutes after I came back into the house, my dad called upstairs to me that I needed to come downstairs as my mother was calling me. Sitting in the middle of our patio was a small turtle! Of course, I wanted to document the sighting, so I ran upstairs to grab my phone/camera. Using GoogleLens, I searched and discovered our turtle friend was a Red-Eared Slider - Not normally found in the wild, and definitey not a native species to Ontario. Had this smart turtle escaped from a house? I decided to give it a name - Harold. (I don't know why, it's just the first name that came to mind).

We thought Harold would move along and find some food and continue their journey to wherever it was they wanted to go. However, on Sunday morning when my mother ventured back out to our garden, she discovered Harold in our unopened pool, basking in the sun on the dry, shallow end of the winter blanket. As she went on with her business, Harold seemed to disappear, only to be rediscovered hours later swimming in the algae-ridden waters of the deep end of the pool. Harold surfaced for air from time to time, but seemed content to hide from the heat and us people under the water.

I was concerned by the evening that perhaps Harold was going to drown being under the water so long, but after some research I learned that these turtles actually need to be in water, and can absorb oxygen from the water in a unique way... Through their bumhole! I definitely had a good laugh at that. More research this morning has taught me that Red-Eared Sliders are actually quite hardy and adaptable. They are able to climb and burrow, and they can smell fresh water and will follow the scent to reach it. They like to eat leafy greens, crickets, insects, and even small frogs and mice. They are omnivores.

There is no sign of Harold yet this morning, but I will be keeping an eye out for them today and placing offerings of lettuce outside to see if that will lure them out.

Meet Harold!