On an autumn walk we came across three baby terrapins sunning themselves on a rock, they dived for the pool before I could get my camera out. But one of them crawled back onto the rock and I got a quick snapshot. Each looked about 6cm diameter. In another pool we saw an adult, floating on the surface of the water, about 20cm diameter. Every now and then it would sink out of sight, cooling itself presumably in the deep water, before returning the sunny surface.

There are two types of terrapin in Spain, both grow up to 20cm. The Striped-Neck Terrapin [above] has a striped neck and an oval, flattened shell. Older animals have a scarred shell, caked in silt if they are sun-bathing. The shells of younger Stripe-Necked Terrapins have red or yellow patches.

The European Pond Terrapin [above] is similar but without the stripes. It is likely this is the one we saw as it is reportedly very fond of sunning itself at the water’s edge.
5 to remember
un galápago – a terrapin
se tiró – it dived
un foto – a snapshot
el diámetro – the diameter
el bordo – the edge