I just saw a River cooter, which only occurs in the southeastern part of the USA, and I found it in Northern New Jersey. Not sure what to do. I posted the pictures onto Inaturalist, but I feel like I should do something further.
I would probably contact the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
dep.nj.gov
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Do you think it’s introduced (released captive) or a possible range extension? Either way, I’d follow @Thunderhead 's advice. Lots of turtles end up in places outside of their range. Red-eared slider is the most translocated of our turtles.
Added: it appears there are other records of that species from your area.
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I was so bummed that the only herp I saw in Japan was…the red-eared slider.
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If you hadn’t seen the red-slider, you wouldn’t have seen ANY herps that trip!
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Yes there are known populations from NJ that seem to be reproducing. If the turtle is from a place where there aren’t any previous records, it might be useful to state folks. If it’s from a known population, then it probably isn’t a major issue (though it can’t hurt to email it in).
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