These three turtles were sitting on a mat of decaying vegetation in a pond that is drying out. There were three other sets of three painted turtles in different parts of the pond, for a total of 12, and no doubt there were more in areas I couldn't see. The big pond, full of cattails, is about 2/3 dry, and if we don't get rain soon, I worry about these turtles. We keep getting promises of rain but all we've had so far is a short burst that did nothing, and then back to heat and dryness.