June 10, 2021

Let's take a closer look at that snapping turtle.

Following up on yesterday's video, here are the stills:

IMG_5281 

I like the curved line left by little monster's tail.

Closer:

IMG_5282

I don't know for sure, but I am thinking this newly dug hole is turtle-related:

IMG_5284

7 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

Freder Frederson writes:

"The only time common snapping turtles (which is what that is) drag
themselves up on land is to lay eggs. That hole is probably a nest she
started but for one reason or another decided not to use, the actual
nest is probably nearby. Mark the spot and if you are lucky you will
see the hatchlings in about 80 to 90 days."

Ann Althouse said...

Cubanbob writes:

"Freder is right. Here in South Florida we have sea turtles nest at night on the beach and to avoid confusing the turtles you cannot have light from your home facing seaward if your home is on the ocean during egg laying season. It confuses the turtles from properly burying their eggs."

Ann Althouse said...

Joe writes: "It is definitely egg-laying season. Here in CT we just encountered a big turtle (18” long?) digging a nest in our back yard on a sunny slope. We guess she may lay eggs there or she may shop multiple sites, using them to decoy predators away from the real one. After 100 million years of evolution, you pick up some tricks like that."

Ann Althouse said...

Owen writes:

The comment you posted about turtles in CT was mine. I am not looking for credit but I admire your blog for its exacting standards which I imagine to include accurate attribution. And I figure you might want to run an error trace process on this.

Whatever. Turtles are fun regardless of who comments on them.

To confuse the narrative further here in southeast CT the horseshoe crabs come ashore in the full moon of June to mate and lay their eggs in the sand bars. Some of us humans are tasked to wade among them to tag them or record their existing tag numbers. The idea being, we can chart their collective presence over time: moving south or north, growing or waning, the population growing younger or older. Under a full moon with flashlights and awls, it is fun work catching these ghostly forms and punching holes on the hem of their armor, hooking on a tag and sending them on their mysterious way.

Not exactly turtles but hey, threads evolve.

Ann Althouse said...

There is potential for me to mix up names when I cut and paste from the email. I do try, but if I screw up, it's never intentional!

Ann Althouse said...

If you were here, you'd catch me muttering names aloud as I try not to forget.

Ann Althouse said...

Curious George writes:

Cubanbob writes:

"Freder is right. Here in South Florida we have sea turtles nest at night on the beach and to avoid confusing the turtles you cannot have light from your home facing seaward if your home is on the ocean during egg laying season. It confuses the turtles from properly burying their eggs."

I sell LED Lighting, and many Florida jurisdictions have lighting requirements beyond direction. They use color temperatures in the 2400-3000K range. Very orange. Apparently baby turtles after hatching instinctively head from the brightest light which normally is the ocean under moonlight.