The Painted Turtle is greenish-black with a reddish underside, and yellow striped head and legs. Males have long claws on their front feet and the hind feet are webbed. Six to 16 eggs are laid in a flask-shaped hollow scraped in soft ground as much as 150 metres from shore. Painted Turtles prefer shallow water with a muddy bottom and logs or other debris above water to bask on. They hibernate by burrowing in the mud.
The Tiger Salamander is a large, dark salamander with yellow blotches on back and sides that look like tiger stripes. Found near small, often alkaline ponds in the southern Okanagan valley, they are able to withstand extreme heat and drought. Eggs are deposited singly on submerged surfaces in shallow water, and larvae transform in three to four months. Some Tiger Salamanders are known to be neotenous, which means they become mature adults in the larval stage.
Want to find out about species at risk in pond and lake habitats?Go to Species at Risk
Here are some more representative species in pond and lake habitats:
Columbian Spotted FrogCommon Terrestrial Garter Snake Western Terrestrial Garter Snake
Photos:Jared Hobbs (Painted Turtle)Walt Klenner (Tiger Salamander)
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