While staying with my parents-in-law in July, at a village near the Azov Sea, we saw this creature crawl across the motorway. We took it away from the dangerous place and safely released it in the nearby lake which the locals call "liman". While at home, we made some research to see what kind of turtle it was and learnt that we saved a rare and endangered Colchis pond turtle which is endemic to the wetlands of the Caucasus region.
The pond turtle, predominantly carnivore, is active during the day. it spends a long time on the beach in the sun. Periodically it dips into the water and returns to the shore again. Eggs are laid on the shore, usually not far from the water, but often, in search of a place for nesting, turtles move a considerable distance from the pond. Depending on the habitat, the female lays eggs up to 3 times per season.
