Editing Painted turtle (section)

===Movement===

[[File:Painted turtle California.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Painted turtle with green slime on its shell, on pebbles, with a couple of leaves on its back. Sun shining.|Moving on land]]

Searching for water, food, or mates, the painted turtles travel up to several kilometers at a time.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=286}} During summer, in response to heat and water-clogging vegetation, the turtles may vacate shallow marshes for more permanent waters.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=286}} Short overland migrations may involve hundreds of turtles together.{{sfn|Carr|1952|p=217}} If heat and drought are prolonged, the turtles will [[Estivation|bury themselves]] and, in extreme cases, die.{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|p=195}}

Foraging turtles frequently cross lakes or travel linearly down creeks.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=MacCulloch, R.D. and D.M. Secoy|title=Movement in a river population of ''Chrysemys picta bellii'' in southern Saskatchewan|journal=Journal of Herpetology |date=1983|volume=17|issue=3|pages=283–285|doi=10.2307/1563834|jstor=1563834}}</ref> Daily crossings of large ponds have been observed.{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|p=195}} [[Tracking animal migration|Tag and release]] studies show that sex also drives turtle movement. Males travel the most, up to {{convert|26|km|mi|abbr=on|0}}, between captures; females the second most, up to {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on|0}}, between captures; and juveniles the least, less than {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}}, between captures.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=286}} Males move the most and are most likely to change wetlands because they seek mates.{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|p=195}}

The painted turtles, through visual recognition, have [[Homing (biology)|homing]] capabilities.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=286}} Many individuals can return to their collection points after being released elsewhere, trips that may require them to traverse land. One experiment placed 98&nbsp;turtles varying several-kilometer distances from their home wetland; 41&nbsp;returned. When living in a single large body of water, the painted turtles can home from up to {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} away. Another experiment found that if placed far enough away from water the turtles will just walk in straight paths and not orient towards water or in any specific direction which indicates a lack of homing ability.<ref name="Caldwell Nams">{{cite journal |last1=Caldwell |first1=I.R. |last2=Nams |first2=V.O. |title=A compass without a map: tortuosity and orientation of eastern painted turtles (''Chrysemys picta picta'') released in unfamiliar territory |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |date=August 2006 |volume=84 |issue=8 |pages=1129–1137 |doi=10.1139/z06-102 }}</ref> Females may use homing to help locate suitable nesting sites.{{sfn|Ernst|Barbour|Lovich|1994|p=286}}

Eastern painted turtle movements may contribute to aquatic plant seed dispersal. A study done in Massachusetts found that the quantity of intact macrophyte seeds defecated by Eastern painted turtles can be high and that the seeds of specifically ''Nymphaea ordorata'' that were found in feces were capable of moderate to high level germination. As turtles move between ponds and habitats, they carry seeds along with them to new locations.<ref name="Caldwell Nams"/>
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