Illinois is home to 17 turtle species that are distributed across the marshes, rivers, ponds, woods, and prairies of the state. These species run from snapping turtles to painted turtles, map turtles, pond sliders, softshell turtles, mud and musk turtles, and even box turtles. While most of these turtles are of the least concern, some…

Virginia is home to 25 species of turtles. 20 of these turtles are native to the state while the remaining 5 are sea turtles. Most of these native species are freshwater/aquatic turtles and include snapping turtles, map turtles, mud turtles, musk turtles, chicken turtles, pond sliders diamondback terrapins, Cooter turtles, and others. All 5 sea…

Iowa is home to 12 species of turtles. These include snapping turtles, smooth softshells, spiny softshells, map turtles, painted turtles, mud and musk turtles, wood turtles, and box turtles. This diverse list of turtle species in the state can be attributed to Iowa’s abundance of cropland and additional land cover such as forests, wetlands, grasslands,…

Louisiana is home to 25 turtles. These include the sea turtles such as the hawksbill, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, and the Kemp ridley sea turtles. Other turtle species inhabiting this state include the snapping turtles, mud and musk turtles, painted turtles, pond soldiers, Cooters, diamondback terrapins, chicken turtles, smooth softshell turtles, spiny softshell…

Minnesota is home to 11 turtle species. 10 of them are native to the state and include the snapping turtle (the biggest of all species), painted turtle, Blanding’s turtle, map turtle, smooth softshell, spiny softshell, wood turtle, and musk turtle. However, the 11th species, the red-eared slider, is a non-native species in this North Star…

New Hampshire is home to 9 turtle species. Seven out of these turtles are native to the state. The snapping turtles and painted turtles are native to the state and are widespread across the state. Some of the native species like Blanding’s turtle, wood turtle, box turtle, and spotted turtle are labeled as vulnerable or…

Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, is home to 13 species of turtles. These include smooth softshell turtles, snapping turtles, mud turtles, musk turtles, map turtles, pond sliders, and box turtles. Located in the Southern United States, this state mainly receives a humid subtropical climate that offers suitable living conditions for various turtles. It also has woodlands…

Utah is home to 4 species of turtles including common snapping turtles, western painted turtles, Texas spiny softshell turtles, and the desert tortoise. The desert tortoise is the ONLY Utah’s truly native tortoise and inhabits the Mojave Desert all the way up to southern Utah. Chances are high that the other 3 species are not…

California, the Golden state, is home to 9 species of turtles. Some of these species are native to this state while other are non-native. The latter found themselves there as a result of inhabitants of this state releasing their pet turtles into the ponds, and lakes in city parks. The state also boasts as home…

Montana is home to only 3 native species of turtles, namely the common snapping turtle, western painted turtle, and western spiny softshell. Despite being one of the largest states in the US, Montana state is one of the colder northwestern states. And this makes it an unsuitable habitat for most turtle species. That said, these…