dave wrote:
Her-indoors (who hardly ever is btw), came back from an early morning
walk Sat. with the following story.

Walking by the canal I heard a "plop" sound is if someone had thrown
something inthe water. Looked where it came from and (believe me folks
this is what she said), there was a turtle (tortoise?) swimming there!

I know this is way OT for this NG but as many knowledgable folk live
here, I just wanted to ask can these creatures live ok/long in canal
water? I guess it may be a pet someone just dumped in there. Anyway,
it seemed (I'm told) quote happy and was swimming about ok
occasionally coming to the surface - hence the plopping noise.

otoh global warming could be spreading more quickly that we know.

Red-eared terrapin, ex-pet as others have said. Nasty bite, becoming a
pest species as they'll eat anything that moves, and the eggs of any
bird they find.

Andy