This snapping turtle was in my back yard yesterday.
Other turtles in other years have tried to lay eggs in my yard, but had been unable to dig more than an inch or two into the solid clay. This lady was perhaps a little smarter. She made four attempts right up next to the foundation. The dirt (I refuse to call it soil) is likely to be a little looser there, having been backfilled and not having been packed by heavy equipment running over it. Still, she dug four holes. She didn't bother to refill the first three shallow holes so I assume there are no eggs there. She did fill the fourth (right next to the air conditioner units), so maybe she got deep enough to actually lay eggs there.
This snapper is pretty small, about the size of a standard dinner plate. Previous visitors have been almost turkey platter sized, and covered with moss. They come up from the little stream/ditch at the end of my yard, that feeds into the lake just down the road.
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3 comments:
This is where I saw it! After seeing this post the other day, I wished I had turtles in my back yard. Then yesterday morning, husband called me outside to see the tiny baby snapping turtle on the rock outside our back door. It was @ 2-3" long, nose to tail, with a shell diameter of @ 1". Totally adorable!
A first I was a little confused, since they lay eggs in late May into June, and then they hatch 90-120 days later --- but then I remembered that if for some reason they lay them late and fall is early, the eggs will overwinter and hatch in the spring.
So that new baby was almost a year in the ground! I hope he finds a pond soon, he's probably hungry!
He was heading directly towards the stream in our back yard where there are tiny fishies and frogs a plenty. But at his rate of travel - @ 1 foot per hour - it might have taken him a while to get there. Im sure he has made it by now :)
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