Thursday, May 24, 2012

Snapping Turtle Laying Eggs

Sherburne volunteer Sherry Winter grabbed these shots along the Wildlife Drive on May 24, 2012. A second turtle was seen laying eggs earlier in the day. So May must be the time for turtle love and reproduction.

Female turtles dig a hole, lay their eggs, cover them up, then trundle away to do turtle things elsewhere. Unfortunately racoons and other animals enjoy turtle eggs. They find the unprotected nests and devour most of the eggs. Very few turtles survive the egg stage. But turtles live a very long time so even with very few eggs surviving in any one year they will be able to keep up their population, in the years and decades.


Sherry, thanks for sharing!

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