Cooters and their close relatives, sliders, belong to the pond and marsh turtles family Emydidae which comprise the largest family of living turtles, including diamondback terrapins, and box turtles.

Cooters and sliders are often seen basking on logs and rocks, often piled one on top of another. They're very cautious and will all plunge into the water if approached.

The Suwanee Cooter, Pseudemys concinna suwanniensis, is found in drainage areas of rivers that feed into the Gulf of Mexico. Its shell has yellow markings and has yellow stripes on its head and front feet. It reaches a maximum length of 16". It leaves its water habitat only to nest during the summer.

The Florida Cooter, Pseudemys floridana floridana, is found in the panhandle and northern Florida. Its shell is dark with faint yellow markings. It has yellow markings on its head and feet. It may reach 13" in length.

The Peninsula Cooter, Pseudemys floridana peninsularis, is found in lakes and slow-moving streams throughout the state. It is one of the most commonly seen turtles, often basking on banks and logs, or crossing roads. Its shell is brown with yellow lines radiating to the sides. It has yellow markings, some shaped like a hairpin, on its head and neck. It grows to a length of 15".

The Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, is found in isolated areas on the Florida peninsula. It was originally found only west of the Mississippi River. It has bright red patches on each side of its head and grows to 11.5". The Yellow-belly Slider, Trachemys scripta scripta, is found in north Florida. It has a dark shell with lighter wide bars.

It has a yellow patch behind each eye and a bright yellow belly with two black spots. It also grows to 11".

"I want to book the Cooters!"
All Cooters concert bookings are being handled by Mike Namorato. Call him at 662-801-2393 for all inquiries.  The Cooters look forward to playing anywhere, anytime, so get in touch with Mike and book The Cooters!!!

"I'm writing an article on The Cooters for publication.  Do you have a PDF Press Kit and Promo Photos we can use?"
Yes. Here is the Acrobat PDF Press Kit and here are the promo photos!

"Hey Cooters, I saw your listing in Book Your Own Fuckin' Life. We are a punk rock band from _________ called "___________" and we are touring with another band called "__________" from __________. We have a hole in our tour dates and we will be in the Mississippi area on _________. We are hoping you might be able to hook us up with a show there. We don't care where. House show, bar show, whatever, we just need to fill the date."

Hey, we appreciate emails like this, and we will do everything we can for any band that asks, but we don't own a bar, we don't have the space for house parties anymore, and we aren't a booking agency. We love to trade shows, but Oxford is very hard to get shows, and good shows in this town are pretty rare these days.

Some places that occasionally book rocknroll in Oxford are The Two Stick (662.236.6639 ask for Chad) and The Longshot (662.236.7063 ask for George). Don't expect much out of either of these places. Proud Larry's (662.236.0050 ask for Scott) is the best place to play in town, but they are very selective as to who plays there.

If you are looking to play a show with The Cooters, call Mike Namorato at 662-801-2393.

"Did your drummer really go to prison?" Well, boot camp at the state pen is more like it. They call it R.I.D. - Regimented Inmate Discipline. For more information, click here.

"What is the deal with this band Autopilot Off? They trash talk you guys in every interview they do!"

Well, its a long story, so here is a primer...

THE COOTERS	AUTOPILOT OFF
The Mississippi punk band formed in 1993 under the moniker of the "Cooter Family"	the New York band that emerged in the late 1990's as "Cooter"
The Cooters are from rural Mississippi	Cooter is from suburban New York
The Cooters play punk metal aka high-octane rocknroll	Cooter is kinda pop punk... of the corporate mall punk variety
The Cooters have blazing guitar solos	Cooter has emo parts
The Cooters are completely DIY since our 1993 debut, shunning offers from the like of Roadrunner and Metal Blade records	Cooter started their band sometime in the late 90's, and quickly concentrated on winning corporate support for their brand of punk. Cooter went on to be sponsored by Doc Marten, Clif Bars, and other companies. They recently signed to a major label
all members of The Cooters are surnamed Cooter	both guitarists of Cooter are named Chris
The Cooters released debut record in 1994	Cooter released debut record in 2000
The Cooters spent $2,000 recording debut CD	Cooter spent $40,000 recording debut CD
The Cooters album art features a UFO zapping a scarecrow in the nuts	Cooter's album art features time lapse photography of some highway
The Cooters launched our website in 1995	Cooter launched website in 2000
The Cooters released our second album in 1998, now recording third Lp	Cooter have not released second album
The Cooters have shared stage with Nashville Pussy, Total Chaos, and Neurosis	Cooter have shared stage with A New Found Glory, Sum 41, and The Ataris
The Cooters covered "Breakin the Law" by Judas Priest, as well as songs by Motorhead, Discharge, and Dead Kennedys	Cooter covered "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" by Herman's Hermits
The Cooters have played shows in honky tonks with sweaty rednecks	Cooter have played shows in churches with christain rock bands
The Cooters' drummer went to prison in Mississippi in 1999	Cooter's guitarist roadied for H20 on the 2001 Vans(tm) Warped Tour
The Cooters have three number one songs on MP3.com	Cooter has no number one songs on MP3.com
The Cooters own a registered trademark for own name, and we refused to sell the name to the band "Cooter," now known as Autopilot Off	Cooter harrassed The Cooters for years into giving up their name, when that didn't work, they attempted to buy the Cooters name.
The Cooters were threatened with a lawsuit by the World Wrestling Federation for naming e-mail list "Cooters World Order."	Cooter was threatened with a lawsuit by The Cooters for stealing artwork, sending hate mail, and even marketing crappy Cooter's CDs in our Mississippi hometown!
The Cooters used own hard-earned cash to hire hometown lawyer	Cooter used corporate money to hire Hollywood, Califonia music industry lawyer whose office was 6000 miles away on the Avenue of the Stars.
The Cooters are named after a turtle	Cooter claimed to be named after the Dukes of Hazzard character, but was selling t-shirts with a turtle logo
The Cooters realized the world wasn't big enough for two Cooters, especially when one of them was hell bent on signing to a major label. Decided to exercise right of "cease and desist."	Cooter trashed the Cooters message board, sent us hate mail, sent press releases to various media disparging us, but reluctantly renamed the band to the more safe and generic-sounding "Autopilot Off". Signed major label record deal within days following name change.
The Cooters have nothing to fear because truth in on our side and The Cooters rock circles around Autopilot Off!	Cooter threatened to "ruin us" by trashing us on MTV and other media outlets.
The Cooters have tried to be mature about the episodes, not saying anything publicly since this controversy erupted in 2001. We have now decided to change that policy. As of February 18, 2003, if anyone in the media or underground press is curious about getting the facts about the feud, and not that B.S. that Autopilot Off keeps spouting, then contact The Cooters and we will be happy to set the record straight	Members of Autopilot Off have talked openly about the feud over the years, trashing The Cooters in every interview they've ever done, most recently in Alternative Press magazine. But curiously, they always leave out important details like how they had been harrassing us for years over the name, how they stole our logo, how they tried to buy the name from us, and how they trashed our message board so much that we had to take it offline. These guys have lied to the public and their fans for years about this controversy.
The Cooters are still going strong, touring, recording, and releasing albums!	Autopilot Off was dropped from their major label a mere four years after changing their name. They are now broken up.

Quick Facts about The Cooters:
1. The Cooters was born in January of 1993.
2. The first demo was "Live at the Padded Cell" which came out in April of 1994.
3. The Cooters debut 7" record was recorded in Fall 1994 and was released in March of 1995 by Assault With Intent to Free and repressed in Summer of 1995 by Cooters Records.
4. The Cooters website went online on July 4, 1995.
5. "Invasion of The Cooters" compact disc was recorded in Fall 1995. It was a demo until released by Cooters Records in 1995.
6. The Cooters released exclusive MP3s and other digital music starting in 1995.
7. "The Moon Will Rise Again" compact disc was originally released as a CDr and internet download in 1998. There were over 21,000 downloads and over 1000 CDrs sold at shows between 1998 and 2001. It was officially released with a bar code by T-Bones Records in October of 2002.
8. The Cooters have toured all over the South.
9. The Cooters have sold records all over the world.
10. In addition to playing as a trio, we have also collaborated with Brad Boatright (From Ashes Rise), Max Hipp (Kincain), and most recently Tom Queyja (Wobitty).
11. The Cooters recorded the "Punk Metal" CD in an abandoned house in Oxford, Mississippi with a DIY recording studio in 2001. It was engineered by Tom Queyja. Hours upon hours of music was recorded, but somehow we chose ten songs to be released first. The album was mixed and remixed and remixed again throughout 2002-2004 while The Cooters toured across the South.
12. The Cooters recorded and mixed the "Chaos or Bust" CD in six days at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with Kevin Cubbins engineering.
13. "Punk Metal" was released June 1, 2005 by Profane Existence Records.
14. "Chaos or Bust" was released November 1, 2005 by Profane Existence Records.