Los Gatos woman surprised by sudden gusher from a rescued turtle

DEAR JOAN: There is a manmade pond about 100 yards down a steep hill from our home. It’s populated with both box and snapping turtles. The ones we see sunbathing on the rocks are usually in the 6- to 8-inch shell range.

While walking my pup a few days ago, I noticed a turtle on the sidewalk, perched on the edge above a steep embankment with lots of foliage. This guy was not only far from home, he also would have had to climb up a steep hillside without much foliage.

Worried that if he stepped off the walkway, rolled down the hill and landed on his back, he’d likely not be visible and thus helpless, I decided to take him back down to the pond.

When I picked him up I was surprised by a gusher of possibly a couple pints of what looked like water.

Do turtles have some sort of ballast bag they fill to help them remain submerged? It seemed like way too much to be urine, and it was completely clear.

Kathy Rowan, Los Gatos

DEAR KATHY: It’s a bit complicated, but it has to do with how turtles manage to breathe underwater. Because they don’t have gills, they need some way to stay submerged for periods of time without drowning. That way is something called the cloaca.

The cloaca is at the rear of the turtle and is the place from which turtles defecate, urinate and lay eggs. In brief, the turtle’s butt. It’s also one of the places where they breathe.

When the turtle is underwater, the cloaca sucks up water, holds it inside and extracts the oxygen. The de-oxygenated water is then expelled, and more is pulled inside. The turtle can’t stay underwater for long periods using this method, so they have to poke their heads out or climb out of the water to get a deep breath.

Turtles do use their pee as a defense mechanism. When confronted with a predator, they may urinate as a way to make themselves less desirable as a food choice. Because they are small creatures with small bladders, they don’t have copious amounts of urine, though, so I think it’s likely that the turtle had pond water stored in its cloaca, and when you picked it up, it released it as a natural reaction to fear or as a defense.