This photograph is a painted turtle stretching out below a heat lamp at Tupper Lake's Wild Center. His red and orange shell and neck markings distinguish him as a painted turtle, along with his yellow stomach. These turtles live in marshy areas like ponds, rivers and lakes full of logs and plants to climb and hide in. Like this guy, painted turtles bask in the sun to warm themselves as they are ecotherms; by sunning on rocks and logs they warm themselves and thus "feed" their energy furnace. I particularly enjoyed this turtle because he looked like he was enjoying a nice stretch, as if he was flying like superman. His bright markings also caught my eye.