Species
Striped mud turtle
Kinosternon baurii
A small, secretive mud turtle of southeast Georgia with three faint stripes down its shell.
Photo Nick Block (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Shell usually 7 to 12 cm long
- Habitat
- Swamps, ditches, ponds and wet pine woods, including brackish marsh edges
- Diet
- Insects, snails, algae, seeds and carrion
- In Georgia
- The southeastern Coastal Plain
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Smooth dark shell usually with three light stripes; two light stripes on each side of the head; hinged underside
- Told apart from
- Eastern mud turtle, which has no stripes on the shell
- Where to look
- Crossing roads after rain, especially in winter and spring
Behaviour
Striped mud turtles spend much of their lives on land, burrowing into leaf litter, and travel between wetlands after rain. Unusually, they may be active and nesting in the cooler months.
Why they matter
They link wet and dry ground in the southern Coastal Plain, feeding in temporary wetlands and sheltering in the forest floor around them.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — Shallow nest in leaf litter or soil
Eggs — Usually 1 to 6, in several clutches
Incubation — About 90 to 120 days
Hatchlings — Tiny and dark
Maturity — At several years
Lifespan — Decades
Living around people
- A striped mud turtle crossing a road can be helped across in the direction it was heading.
Misconceptions
- Turtles are only active in summer. In southern Georgia this one is often most active in winter rains.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Active in wet weather | Moving between wetlands | Active | Nesting | Nesting | Buried on land in dry weather | Buried in dry weather | Active after rain | Nesting in some years | Active | Active in wet weather | Active in wet weather |
Where it lives
Recorded in 8 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
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