The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I found these ones in a small stream near work during my lunch break. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years ago and to look closely at one (the claws, for example) it is not hard to imagine. Reliant on warmth from its surroundings, the painted turtle is active only during the day when it basks for hours on logs or rocks. During winter, the turtle hibernates, usually in the mud at the bottom of water bodies. Adults in the wild can live for more than 55 years.