Meet Myrtle…and Mac!

Female adult Painted Turtle

This is the first in a series called View from a Bridge —capturing wildlife secretly lurking under the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge that spans the upper Delaware River.

Myrtle is the big one. She’s a female painted 🐢 turtle of the type you may once have adopted as a tiny pet —only all grown up and ready to spawn.

Mac is NOT a juvenile, but a male—yes, men, that’s as big as the guys get, and Mac is just one of a bunch of males seemingly courting Myrtle.

They’re standing upon the base of a bridge stanchion! The Delaware River turtles flock to these concrete beaches in summer, to sun and stretch their limbs. I photographed them from the pedestrian lane—just part of the secret wildlife world that thrives along the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge.

Buy the photo below

Left to right, a male and female mature Painted Turtle
Mac is the little one and, sorry guys, he’s a fully grown male. They’re typically dwarfed by the females, and it’s not unusual to see several males for every female under the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge

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