Here's the three-toed handsome man...

How lucky you were to get to hold such a beautiful turtle. I love turtles, they are such neat creatures.

Oh they are beautiful, but the three-toed guy hissed at me and wagged his tail - at least he didn't pee on me. I've learned the hard way, LOL, to hold them out from me when picking them up. He did snap and snarl a bit, but he couldn't reach me. I guess this time of year his testosterone levels were raging.

The little guy, still not completely identified, was much more docile - or just scared? Both were sent on their merry ways after we photographed them.

I became a vegan last summer because I watched a video on turtles that tugged on my heart strings. I only lasted two months though as a vegan- then I missed the taste of salmon lol!

What beautiful turtles, esp. the "Ornate". Never saw one before.

When I was a kid it seems turtles were very common in the creek and swampy areas around town. Not so much anymore. I used to see one or two on the way to a greenhouse, trying to cross the road from their pond to the woods, but not for a long time now. Also when young, my brother used to trap snapping turtles and sell the meat. Guess who had to go with him to check traps? Made me sad.

That one in the first photo looks like a tortoise to me.

One of my neighbors has a big tortoise she posted a picture of her husband with it on his lap it covered his whole lap and then some. Well some one took it out of their fenced yard this week. Everyone has been on the watch for it. She is worried someone will put it in water and he could drown if he doesn't have a platform to get out.

Yes, box turtles are tortoises. They will be around water, but they do not live in the water. They are as thick as fleas in Arkansas and southern Missouri; I've just not gotten good at IDing all the varieties.

Was your neighbors' tortoise one of the desert-type tortoises? I know they get huge. I hope they find him. People can be so cruel.

These guys get hardly bigger than an average hand.

Oh he is a darling, and one of the "deserts!" When I have time tomorrow I'll look him up. He may be kin to "Clyde" on the Elementary program.

There have been reports of seeing a large tortoise so may be there is hope.

I picked a baby turtle from our walking path last week. I put him on the bank of the lake not knowing what kind he was, probably a snapper.

You have a 3 toed box turtle (tortoise). See link below:

http://www.aboxturtle.com/threetoed.htm

The hind legs have 3 or 4 toes; the front legs have 5 toes.

I have seen these in southern Illinois as well. These are land animals and people in that part of the country refer to those as "land terrapins". They are often found along roadsides and edges of farm fields.

I love turtles! I don't know what type this one is, but DH found her while he was mowing the 'back40' (the field next to our driveway) a month ago. She appeared to be about to lay eggs or maybe already had. We frequently see some fairly large ones.

To OutsidePlaying:

I don't have ID materiel, but the nose of your egg laying turtle says "Snapper" to me. Whatt is doing is digging a nest to deposit eggs. Did you find this one near water?

Jemdandy, I believe it is a Yellow-bellied pond slider, based on the second photo I have of the turtle. We have a small pond in our back yard and live about a quarter mile from a creek. It's not a snapper for sure, I've seen those.

OutsidePlaying:

You are correct. I took a better look and its shell is too colorful for a snapper.