You can attract turtles into your backyard or pond by creating a hospitable environment for them. They will need a pond or an artificial water source for moisture. Low-growing plants, aquatic vegetation, dry leaves, basking spots, mud, rocks, shady spots, and good food will help to attract turtles.
Let’s talk about this in detail now.
Benefits Of Attracting Turtles Into Your Backyard Or Ponds
If you are looking for animals to make your yard more interesting, turtles are a great choice.
Wild turtles are common in areas with ponds and lakes.
So, you can easily find them and attract them into your space to enjoy their company.
The best thing about having wild turtles in your yard is that these animals will take care of themselves.
Not only do they find their food, but they also manage their needs on their own.
Now, there is an additional benefit when you have turtles into your backspace or pond. Turtles are natural scavengers.
They will eat dead fish, insects, and other animals in the environment. Thus, they keep the area clean.
Let us find out how to attract wild turtles in the locality into your backyard.
How To Attract Turtles To Your Yard?
Since turtles are aquatic creatures, they are drawn to water bodies.
So, if you have a garden pond, half the work is done.
In case your garden does not have a natural pond, you can build an artificial pond.
Although you can attract turtles even without a pond, it is a lot easier when you have one.
Now, if you decide to skip the pond, here are the different ways to attract turtles.
- Drop food in your garden: Turtles are drawn to food. Encourage them to visit your garden by dropping fruits like whole apples, bananas, and pears. You can also use vegetables like carrots and leafy greens.
- Create a warm, sunny, clearance area near a muddy spot: Turtles spend their time swimming in the water and basking in the sun. Provide a suitable space for both these activities, and they will find it appealing. Mark off an area with moist mud and good sun. Prepare the landscape around it with rocks and mud to dig, and they will seek it out.
- Pile up leaves: Turtles enjoy playing in the mud and bury themselves in vegetation. They use leaves and dirt to camouflage themselves while they rest. They also dig into leaf piles, make tunnels, and play in them. Add leaf litter to your yard, and the turtles in the vicinity will likely check it out.
How To Attract Turtles To Your Pond?
Garden ponds and lakes are natural habitats for turtles. If you have a pond, turtles will likely visit it.
Nonetheless, here are some of the things you can do to make it more appealing to these animals.
- Add low-lying plants and lush vegetation: Most turtles like to hang around in shady areas with aquatic plants and bushy vegetation. Plants serve as sources of food and provide hiding places from predators. When you have plants in your pond, algae, insects, shrimp, crustaceans, and small fish will also thrive. Turtles will thus have plenty of natural food sources and live in and around your pond.
- Add rocks, leaves, and mud: Turtles like marshy and moist places. When they are not spending time in the water or basking in the water, they dig mud and cover themselves in it. They will also play with dry and decaying leaves. You can create a suitable environment for these animals by adding these elements in and around your pond. When there are plenty of micro-environments for the turtle to explore, they will be more inclined to stay. Use loose rocks and stones that they can use as shelter. You can also add dry logs and driftwood for the turtles to climb on when they are basking.
- There should be sunny and shady spots: Turtles are ectothermic animals. It means that they cannot regulate their body temperature. They depend on the sun and shade to warm and cool their bodies. So, they prefer living environments with a range of temperature options. Turtles will bask in the sun for hours after swimming. They will also need shady spaces like coves or divots to cool in when the weather is too warm. You can add rocks or logs that they can climb onto and get the sun exposure they need. Landscape the area around the pond to provide enough shady and sunny spots for the turtles.
How To Attract Pond Turtles?
Pond turtles are easily attracted to spaces with plenty of water, vegetation, and mud.
But if you want them to find your space sooner, you can use food to attract them. Consider dropping food in the area.
Dropping fresh fruits and vegetables will lure pond turtles into your yard.
However, keep in mind that it can also attract other forms of wildlife.
You can also dig coves and small tunnels in the ground around the pond. These microenvironments are attractive to turtles.
Adding native plants, perching spots, logs, and rocks will also make the habitat more attractive for turtles.
How To Attract Turtles In A Lake?
Most natural lakes have a wide variety of wildlife, including turtles.
Aquatic turtles will usually spend most of their time underwater and out of sight.
They will come out only when they decide to bask in the sunlight.
Turtles are generally shy creatures. They don’t like to be picked up or petted.
So, they may stay away if they sense your presence.
If the turtles in a lake are ignoring you, it is best to let them be.
Trying to befriend them can stress them out. If you get too close, some varieties may even snap or bite you.
If wild turtles find your presence frightening, they may even move out to another space.
Now, if a turtle is curious enough to check you out, stay still and let it explore on its own.
Any sudden movements may frighten it. Try not to touch it or move it. Let it come to you.
You can entice it with food.
Offer vegetables like lettuce and carrots or shrimp, and it may slowly build up the confidence to come close.
How To Attract Snapping Turtles?
Snapping turtles are large animals.
They spend most of their time in water and need plenty of water to swim and stay submerged.
These animals will bask from the water and not on the shore.
The best way to lure them into a chosen space is with food.
Snapping turtles eat fish, spiders, small birds, frogs, and even small mammals. These animals also need fresh plant matter.
You can attract snapping turtles by offering them the food they like. Use chicken meat, beef, feeder fish, and other items.
Additionally, grow an abundance of plants around the pond to create an attractive marshy stretch.
How To Attract Sea Turtles?
While strolling on the beach at night, have you ever noticed sea turtles relaxing on the shore?
These animals are very frightened of humans and tend to come ashore only when nobody is around, and they feel safe.
A sea turtle may bite you if you get too close and frighten it.
If you see a sea turtle, observe it from a distance. Conventional flashlights and torches can frighten these animals.
If you shine a torch or camera flash on it, the animal may scurry back into the water.
So, avoid taking pictures of them with the flash on.
Sea turtles will also bask along the coastline on quiet beaches. Females will come to the shore to make nests and lay eggs.
If you spot a turtle digging her nest, stay away and don’t disrupt the process.
How To Attract Baby Turtles?
Turtles lay their eggs on land. Females dig nests away from the water and lay their eggs in it.
After laying the eggs, the mother will usually throw sand or mud over the nest to conceal the eggs.
She then returns to her home in the water.
So, turtle eggs and hatchlings do not receive the care or protection of their parents.
However, nature has designed them to find their way towards the nearest water body after they hatch out of their eggs.
Nonetheless, these tiny animals are vulnerable to predators and other environmental dangers while searching for their community.
Now, you can lure baby turtles towards your home with the help of food.
Use lean raw meat, green vegetables, fruits, or grasses to attract them.
They will also enjoy earthworms, brine shrimp, blood worms, and other insects.
Create a pleasant environment for their stay with plenty of sunny and shady spots, moist soil, leaves, and diverse food options.
The baby turtles that move into your yard are more likely to stay there when all their needs are met and they are content.
References
- https://www.usgs.gov/centers/sbsc/science/turtle-ecology
- https://ontarionature.org/programs/citizen-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/snapping-turtle/
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/pond-turtle
- https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2012/AprilMay/Gardening/Box-Turtles
- https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2016/04/turtles-and-pesticides
