Spotted Turtles, like Wood Turtles, are Threatened in New Jersey. Spotteds are a great little turtle. They are usually about the size of a painted turtle. They look just like a painted with a black shell and skin, and with yellow dots on the carapace. They usually have one dot per scute on the carapace, about a millimeter wide, and very close to a perfect circle. These turtles are truely great, and hard to find because of their odd basking and foraging habits, and migrations through the year. I personally have only ever found one in some dewy grass near a meadow stream, likely on a small trip for food.
