Woman shares strangely hilarious courtship ritual between turtles [Video]

• Jamie Amalea Pappas was watching the wildlife in Pennsylvania’s John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge when she spotted something curious.
• One turtle kept swimming backwards in front of another, seemingly luring her in, only to approach her and slap her once in a while.
• It turns out that the strangely hilarious display of affection is a courtship ritual that shows off one’s athleticism!

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Have you ever witnessed a mating ritual and found it confusing or downright hilarious? When one woman spotted two eastern painted turtles doing such a thing, she couldn’t help but find it funny.

Jamie Amalea Pappas said she usually visited the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania to watch the wildlife.

One day, she was passing by a freshwater tidal marsh when she spotted two turtles exhibiting strangely curious behavior.

One turtle kept swimming backwards in front of the other, seemingly luring her in, only to approach her every once in a while.

Whenever he approached, he would wave his forelimbs in front of the other’s face — and then slap her! Or at least, it definitely looked like he kept slapping her.

Jamie shared footage of the scene with the caption, “easily the funniest thing I’ve seen happen all year.”

easily the funniest thing I’ve seen happen all year. pic.twitter.com/LLwXdxMT0r— jamie amalea pappas (@jamieamalea) April 30, 2022

She told The Dodo, “I was fascinated. I thought it was very cute and silly!”

While she joked about it being “a vicious fight,” the seemingly hilarious display was actually a courtship ritual.

State biologist Garrett White told Philly Mag, “This video shows two eastern painted turtles in a courtship display. The male is the one doing the ‘slapping.’”

It turns out that the male turtle was trying to show off his athleticism, his ability to maneuver in the water, and his nice claws.

Jamie said that such a seemingly annoying display of affection “wouldn’t work” on her, but she tries her best to keep a non-judgmental stance.

She doesn’t know whether the hilarious slapping display resulted in romance, after all, since the pair swam out of sight before she could find out.

Source: The Dodo