Could You Identify a Wood Turtle If You Saw One in Maine?

Lawmakers in Augusta are debating whether to designate the wood turtle as Maine’s official state reptile.

I thought about it, and realized I couldn’t tell you how to identify a wood turtle or what makes it different from other turtle species.

So I decided to do some reptile research and get a better understanding of what they look like and where to find them.

Wood Turtles in Maine

Wood turtles are natives of the northeastern part of the U.S. In this country, You can’t get more northeastern than Maine, so it makes sense that wood turtles would be a candidate for state reptile designation.

However, this turtle species isn’t confined to just Maine, as it can also be found as far north as Nova Scotia, as far south as Virginia and as far west as Minnesota.

According to the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, wood turtles spend much of their time around rivers and streams with sandy bottoms, sometimes traveling into the forest but never straying too far from the water.

Things to Know About Wood Turtles

They are semi-terrestrial, meaning they primarily live on land but require a moist environment to thrive.

This turtle species, which hibernates during the winter months, travels about 350 feet per day, on average.

So, now that we know where to look, how do we know when we’ve spotted one?

First, we can take a look at the top part of the shell, which is brown to grayish-brown and measures about 5.5 to 10 inches in length.

The bottom of a wood turtle’s shell is yellowish with large black blotches.

The head and the front of a wood turtle’s limbs are brownish-gray to dark gray, while the back of the limbs are yellow or orange.

Of course, this isn’t everything there is to know about wood turtles, not even close, but it is enough to help us identify what could become Maine’s official state reptile.

If the state is going to potentially recognize this particular turtle species, we might as well know what one looks like.

25 Endangered Animals in Maine

Here is a list of the 25 animals that are classified as endangered in Maine. These, along with species that are "threatened" in Maine can be found on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife website.

20 of the Scariest Maine Animals to be Watching you from the Outside

A local raccoon became quite the celebrity the other day when he peaked into a home in Cutler, Maine.

The image was more cute and comedic than anything. However, it did inspire this list of the 20 scariest animals a Mainer would not want to see peaking into their house.

Warning, this list is quite frightening.