6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 08 September 2006

Laurel comments on today's walk...

Happy birthday, little snappers! That’s the song Kat sang as her twins, my toddler and I watched the newly hatched snapping turtles crawl across the trail. I saw the first baby making its way over the grass, and we stopped the stroller caravan immediately. The hatchlings were of a uniform charcoal color, and some still carried bits of black dirt from their underground nest on their backs. Their inch and a half long shells have a ridge down the center and the edges appear serrated. The scutes, or plates, on the backs of the shells are indistinct. None of the babies seemed to be in any hurry, though I imagine they were highly vulnerable to predators on land.
In our area there is a three-week span in September when snapping turtle hatchlings emerge. We were ready and on the lookout, having missed painted turtle hatchlings by ten or fifteen minutes earlier in the season. On this walk it was our good fortune to come across a nest surrounded by fourteen young turtles on their way to the water. Better yet, one turtle lingered at the lip of the hole from which the others had recently emerged. Peering inside the tunnel, Kat was also able to catch a glimpse of a little head peeping up at daylight for the very first time.
To help these little turtles avoid the bicycles that frequent the Heritage Trail and avoid predators, we scooped them up in the butterfly net and released them a few yards away in the water.
Over the past few months, various members of our Nature Strollers group have been witness to the ups and downs of snapping turtle life. Kat, her twins, and Grandma Barbara had heard the noisy thrashing of two snapping turtles mating. Six of us had seen the turtle tracks leading to newly covered nests. Kat and I discovered a mother snapper on her way back down the banks of a stream after laying her eggs. The whole Nature Strollers group has passed nest after nest that had been dug up by predators. Finally, five of us were present for the most exciting event of all, hatching time.
Because the behaviors and life cycles of wild creatures unfold throughout the seasons, it is the families that walk year-round that will be privy to their secrets. We’ve observed several events in snapping turtles' lives firsthand this year, but there are many behaviors to look forward to in the seasons to come.

News Release! Extra, extra... Read all about it!

Here is the article printed by The Chronicle! Click on the picture of the article to go to the print form on the web.