Turtle Pond can be found just north of the UT Tower. (Check out the campus map for reference). The pond has been a favorite spot since it was built in 1939, around the same time as construction of the UT Tower. It is home to a few dozen turtles of multiple species, including snapping turtles. In addition to simply being a lovely spot to appreciate nature on campus, the turtle pond is used by biology classes in the College of Natural Sciences.
Children can enjoy watching turtles of all shapes and sizes swimming around and sunning themselves.
Before you go, it’s worth checking out the UT Austin Turtle Pond Facebook page — a resource to help educate the UT Community in properly caring and interacting with the turtles. They include the following helpful Do’s and Don’ts to keep the turtles healthy and prospering in the pond.
- Dos: Try to feed them things that are actually good for them. Greens, fruits, veggies, and pellets marketed as turtle food.
- Don’ts: Don’t feed them bread, pizza, mushrooms, tomatoes, a lot of root veggies, crackers, cheese (or other dairy), onions and garlic. Turtles don’t eat these in the wild, don’t feed it to them in the pond.
While you’re on campus, you can also stroll around to appreciate the varied architecture as well as many amazing works of art. For campus tours, please check out the University of Texas at Austin website, www.utexas.edu.
