tiabunna's photos with the keyword: Chelodina longicollis

What were our dogs barking about? It was nearly dark as I looked through the screen door, being very surprised to find this Eastern Long-necked Turtle on our driveway. These are native to eastern Australia, living in streams and fresh water wetlands. With a carapace of about 20cm length, this was almost fully grown. I'd previously only seen a very small one around here, so meeting this one was quite a thrill. After taking these photos I picked it up by the carapace and returned it to the nearby wetlands. To return there itself, it would have needed to cross a road where it already had risked life and limb. More images in PiPs. SEE UPDATE IN COMMENTS. To my surprise there was a second visitor! (PiPs also)

A very small Eastern Long-Necked Turtle (Chelodina longicollis) , common to eastern Australia, making a hasty headlong retreat into leaf litter after being released. I had rescued it from the middle of a road, where it had a serious risk of being run over. The size can be seen from the other images in the notes. These turtles have the unique habit of tucking their heads sideways under their shells as a defensive mechanism, as seen in the notes, which also show the colourful underside. These turtles can grow to a shell size of about 25cm with the neck extending beyond by a similar distance. I guess this is a fairly obvious link.