This Red-eared Slider was crossing the auto tour road at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. I made a blog post twice before regarding reasons these turtles are out of the water. The first blog post I made, I thought could be a Red-eared Slider Searching For New Habitat and the second post was of a Red-eared Slider Laying Eggs. This time I think it was looking for a new habitat.

Red-eared Slider Crossing Road
Red-eared Slider Crossing Road

Red-eared Sliders leave the water and travel across land for several reasons, including:

  1. Basking: They need to warm themselves under the sun to regulate their body temperature and metabolism.

  2. Nesting: Female Red-eared Sliders will leave the water to find a suitable location to lay their eggs.

  3. Exploring: They may leave the water to explore their surroundings and search for food or mates.

  4. Fleeing danger: They may leave the water to escape predators or adverse conditions in their aquatic habitat.

  5. Thermoregulation: Red-eared Sliders will move between sun-exposed and shaded areas to regulate their body temperature.

These are just a few of the reasons why Red-eared Sliders might leave the water and travel across land.

Gear Used:

  • Camera: Fujifilm X-T3
  • Lens: Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM (attached with a Fringer EF-FX Pro)

Technical:

While driving the auto tour road near Reeve’s Slough I saw this turtle crossing the road. I had to exit my pickup to get the photo. I was hand-holding my camera.

  • Location: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge (Oklahoma)
  • Date and Time Taken: June 5, 2020 (07:58:01 A.M.)
  • Aperture Priority
  • Aperture: f8.0
  • Shutter speed: 1/140 sec. (as determined by the camera)
  • ISO: 2000
  • White Balance: Auto
  • Metering Mode: Multi
  • Exposure Compensation: +0.33 EV
  • Back-button Focus
  • Single Point Focus
  • Focal Length: 200 mm
  • Processed With Luminar 4