Encountered this fellow during bushcare today. He was sitting right on top of the bridal veil roots we were pulling, looking suspiciously like a rock.
We probably shouldn’t have handled him (I hope turtles don’t get dizzy from being turned upside down). We put him back down and hid him under some other groundcover as a local Kookaburra was loitering.
Used to live in Hurlstone Park. Riding bike down Duntroon St and see a lump in road so I swerve to avoid. Realised it was a turtle like this, maybe a lil bigger. Made it clear to WIRES I could not babysit for couple days and a volunteer came over that night. Biggest they’d ever seen they said.
No way that turtle made it to Duntroon St on its own. Bit sad someone took it from the river but at least it made it home (I think).
Glad to hear it got cared of :)
This one was only 10m from a creek, so we were not too worried.
They can’t breath properly when turned upside down. Try to keep them upright if you encounter them again. If you have a box or reusable shopping bag if they are obviously injured and need to be transported somewhere for medical attention. If the box is big enough they should be able to right themselves back up.
When doing turtle recoveries we had a Rubbermaid tote with a lid which had holes cut in it.
Will do.
N.B. It was only upside down whilst we handled it, not as it was found.
