Mr was out doing some projects in the garden today, when he walked behind his truck and came upon a female Terrapin turtle laying eggs in a hole she had dug in the bare sand territory of his parking spot. May is turtle season around here, and I was surprised that I have only come upon the same Box turtle twice this spring.
Usually one or two more Box turtles come around this time of year. At least one Terrapin, usually three or more ,Terrapins come into the garden to lay eggs at this time of the spring. They are not too choosy, nor careful. They climb out of the water, explore a bit at what they consider a safe distance, and then start digging. Often
they lay eggs in the middle of the road, only to be foiled by passing cars. Every now and then
we find tiny babies wandering in some incongruint garden spot searching for the bay. I have hand delivered many to the water's edge. Not often do we witness the whole process. Today was different.
The turtle had already dug the hole, and had laid many eggs before we spotted her. I ran to get a camera and recorded what I could with the digital camera. (To see those videos, hit the hyperlinks describing the corresponding text.) We felt badly about disturbing her, so we backed off and
I hid behind the truck to film her. She knew she had been detected, so
she finished and took off quickly. Mr fenced off the egg nest as I filmed her returning to the water. Terrapins are amazingly fast movers on land. They forge ahead like a tank, making for the bay water. Falling off a cliff is the usual turn of events, I often hear clunk clunk clunk as they bounce down the cliff seeking water.
The turtle today,upon reaching the water, submerged herself in some eel grass hesitated a moment, swam ahead then turned around and looked up at me. She quickly dove under water and disappeared. Such a quick event, it has been repeated millions of times over millions of years. I am surprised to say that by witnessing this event I learned that the back legs of a terrapin work like human arms would work. She can pull the earth to her or push it away from her, to dig the hole or bury the eggs. It was just fascinating.
The turtle had already dug the hole, and had laid many eggs before we spotted her. I ran to get a camera and recorded what I could with the digital camera. (To see those videos, hit the hyperlinks describing the corresponding text.) We felt badly about disturbing her, so we backed off and I hid behind the truck to film her. She knew she had been detected, so she finished and took off quickly. Mr fenced off the egg nest as I filmed her returning to the water. Terrapins are amazingly fast movers on land. They forge ahead like a tank, making for the bay water. Falling off a cliff is the usual turn of events, I often hear clunk clunk clunk as they bounce down the cliff seeking water. The turtle today,upon reaching the water, submerged herself in some eel grass hesitated a moment, swam ahead then turned around and looked up at me. She quickly dove under water and disappeared. Such a quick event, it has been repeated millions of times over millions of years. I am surprised to say that by witnessing this event I learned that the back legs of a terrapin work like human arms would work. She can pull the earth to her or push it away from her, to dig the hole or bury the eggs. It was just fascinating.
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