This fellow is living in a pond in Dublin?!

NORTH1 · 24-09-2009 6:22pm #1

This guy is living in a pond near were I work. He's diffinitely not a native. Shoud I report him to somebody, or leave him alone. If left alone do you think he would survive the winter.

There's nothing wrong with his reflexes as soon as I got close to him he disappeared under the water.

Ado86 · 24-09-2009 7:24pm

I would give the DSPCA a ring....he probably will be some predators victim otherwise, or some unfortunate might take unkindly to him....

star-pants · 24-09-2009 8:13pm

Yeah he's not a native I'd say, and might be best to give them a call

Sigma Force · 24-09-2009 8:21pm

That's a terrapin ..red eared perhaps (not good at iding them) he needs to be removed from the pond. It's common for people to dump them in ponds etc. when they get sick of them. They can really effect native wildlife even ducks breeding aparently they take over ducks resting places and won't let them on it.

Call the DSPCA or the reptile crowd ..link http://www.irishanimals.ie/reptiles/index.html

Hope this helps should be easy enough to catch once someone spends some time there.

NORTH1 · 24-09-2009 8:48pm

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

That's a terrapin ..red eared perhaps (not good at iding them) he needs to be removed from the pond. It's common for people to dump them in ponds etc. when they get sick of them. They can really effect native wildlife even ducks breeding aparently they take over ducks resting places and won't let them on it.

Call the DSPCA or the reptile crowd ..link http://www.irishanimals.ie/reptiles/index.html

Hope this helps should be easy enough to catch once someone spends some time there.

Yea, I called the guys in the link, and they think he might have been there a while, if I can catch him they will take him but catching him wont be easy. They say he'll be ok left there and he will hibernate shortly, and he should not affect any of the indigenous life on the pond.

Well I wont be trying to catch him, but I will take an interest on his life from here on.

24-09-2009 9:02pm

North1, would you mind giving me the location of the pond?

Would love to pop down to see the little guy if he was near me.

olaola · 25-09-2009 10:28am

There is one in the canal too - the DSPCA say he's happy enough - looks in good health and is good at evading capture. So they leave him there. Dunno if this is the same chap.

doctor evil · 25-09-2009 11:04am

NORTH1 wrote: »

and he should not affect any of the indigenous life on the pond.

And do they think he lives on fresh air? He's not native, of course he is going to have an effect. He should be removed in case more idiots think it's ok to dump their pets in such a manner.

NORTH1 · 25-09-2009 11:57am

doctor evil wrote: »

And do they think he lives on fresh air? He's not native, of course he is going to have an effect. He should be removed in case more idiots think it's ok to dump their pets in such a manner.

Who should do the removing? and noone here said its ok to dump pets in any manner. If the experts and volentery groups say hes not having an effect I would tend to believe them.

You make a point but its not really of any use.

doctor evil · 25-09-2009 12:24pm

These fellas are omnivores, one of the things they eat would be tadpoles, frogs worldwide and in Ireland are in decline so they can certainly do without a non-native animal adding to the problem.

Of course no-one in this thread said it was ok to dump them, but if people see them in our water ways it may give them ideas.

Experts and voluntary groups aren't god, they are human like the rest of us.

As for who does the catching good point. If there are anglers near by than it may be in their interest to catch it. I wouldn't think the DSPCA or such like would bother themselves.

jen_23 · 25-09-2009 12:48pm

It's a red eared slider and ideally he should be in an environment of 24-29 degrees celcius. I can't imagine he would survive a winter there. Chances are he'l get a respiratory infection and die being in colder waters to what he should be in especially if it's a bad winter.

North they are easy enough to catch if you have a net. They are skittish but a net on a pole would do the trick easy enough.

FAYESY · 25-09-2009 5:08pm

jen_23 wrote: »

It's a red eared slider and ideally he should be in an environment of 24-29 degrees celcius. I can't imagine he would survive a winter there. Chances are he'l get a respiratory infection and die being in colder waters to what he should be in especially if it's a bad winter.

North they are easy enough to catch if you have a net. They are skittish but a net on a pole would do the trick easy enough.

They survive extremely well outside here & in the UK - I have mine in a pond & have had them outside for 6 years now. In the UK they would take over the rivers & lakes in certain areas if they could incubate the eggs - other than that they eat the plants - dead fish, bugs etc.

Demonique · 25-09-2009 10:09pm

jen_23 wrote: »

It's a red eared slider and ideally he should be in an environment of 24-29 degrees celcius. I can't imagine he would survive a winter there. Chances are he'l get a respiratory infection and die being in colder waters to what he should be in especially if it's a bad winter.

They can survive quite fine in Ireland, the only thing they can't do is reproduce as it's not warm enough to incubate their eggs.

They're a nuisance animal in the UK. A number of them had to be removed from one of the lakes in Hyde park after they were spotted pulling ducklings under the water.

Someone over on http://reptile-community.com might be interested in catching him

NORTH1 · 25-09-2009 10:43pm

Our friend today...

And when I got a little too close yesterday...

I'll ask that other forumn for advice..

aboutimeilogin! · 25-09-2009 11:19pm

it should be removed straight away, anywhichway you can as it's illegal to introduce non native species but also as it will have an impact on native species of insects,fish,mammals, birds and plants. is it in corcaigh park by chance?

AARRRGH · 25-09-2009 11:30pm

Yeah there's one in the park next to where I work (Herbert Park).

I'm happy to hear they can survive ok in our weather. I was worried about the little fella.

dee o gee · 25-09-2009 11:39pm

If your considering trying to catch him could you use a long net to snag him or borrow a cat trap and bait him into it?

If people are dumping terrapins into lakes/rivers id dread to think what else their dumping!!:eek: Some parts of america have a bad problem with dumped snakes and other big reptiles that just get too big, theres been people's dogs/cats eaten by them!:eek: Think it'l soon be time for poor saint patrick to come back!!!:D

NORTH1 · 26-09-2009 12:02am

Where he is, is not hard to work out. I can understand the worry that this fellow will affect other indigenous life on the pond put I think its unlikely.

I would be more worried for his safety as there a two large grey heron, which have been feeding on duckling's up till recently. Now the duckling have gotten to big for the heron's I would think the terrapin would be on the menu. There are also cats, dogs, foxes, rats, and god knows what else this fellow would fit into a mouth off.

But will he survive a winter?

This fellow is living in a pond in Dublin?!

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