RED EARED TERRAPIN or RED EARED SLIDER

A Red Eared Terrapin, Trachemys scripta elegans, in the River Lea in Enfield. Wait elegans in the scientific name? How about cumbersomi or bargearoundi and even bulllinachinashopii?!

Not quite sure what they found elegant about a Red Ear?! Lol.

This is a large female and there is normally a smaller male but not seen him this year.

Despite what people think of these guys they do not do much damage, do not always eat fish, or indeed even then not always live ones, and I have never heard of them successfully breeding.

I nearly got wet for this one when I first spotted it two or three years ago as I thought it was a European Pond Terrapin, lol.