Two very handsome red eared slider turtles are the latest “critters” to have joined the garden. If you sit quietly on the bench near the pond, and you are very lucky, you might see their heads poking out for just a moment. Red-eared sliders get their name from the red line around their ears. The “slider” part of their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks into the water quickly. 
The pond is also home to a school of goldfish and some very beautiful dragonflies. When the fountain is on sparrows and grackles come to drink and play.
In the search for the right sized turtles one was bought at Petco and one at Petland. They are about five to seven inches but could grow up to 13 inches across. They eat both insects, (hopefully mosquito larvae) and plants (the water hyacinth is gone). According to Wikipedia if they “make it” for the first two years they often live for thirty years. So we may enjoy their presence in the garden for a long time.
By Jenifer Marcus
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