Here and below you’ll see a few of our resident painted turtles. Their spiffy paint jobs are not to impress passers-by, according to the literature – quite the opposite. Their markings are functional and have been inspirational to Native Americans.
At one level, the random, bright markings and the irregularly outlined shell plates (“skutes”) are evolved camouflage. They break up the turtles’ familiar profiles and make them harder to be noticed by predators when the reptiles are still, which is frequently. (However, apparently no one has informed these sun worshipers that, when they bask, their shells often give off a distinctive dull reflection that allows a practiced eye to detect them at great distances.)
While meant to deter predators, their decorations can be enticing and informative to other painted turtles. Male painted turtles flash their distinctive yellow-and-red markings to attract a mate. The brightness of a turtle’s markings signals its age and health, factors that females apparently value when deciding to accept a suitor.
Native Americans also valued the markings of painted turtles, we’re told. Our first settlers, especially the eastern forest and Great Lakes peoples, reportedly depicted these turtles’ patterns in face paint, decorative art, jewelry, and clothing. In some Native American legends, painted turtles were tricksters that used their bright colors to entice and outwit humans, especially women.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 1 and 3, 2026.)