Look what we ran across this morning

This morning we went for a walk around the trail, which also goes around the pond, and look what we found. A turtle laying eggs on the trail, she had dug a hole and was in ther process of dropping eggs in. We didn't actually get to see her drop one, we didn't want to disturb her too much so we stopped only for a bit and kept walking. When we came around the second time, she had this egg good and visible and looked like she just dropped it. We could see two eggs in the hole. We walked around again and by the time we got back, she had the eggs covered and was still covering them and packing down the dirt. We had the dogs with us and she really didn't seem to mind us that much, she was cautious but decided we weren't too bad so she would just go about her business. We sat there and watched her and I even took video of her covering them. Very interesting seeing her in the process.

A closeup

Here she is covering the eggs, by the time she was done, you really couldn't tell she had even been there. She knew exactally where her dirt was that she had dug out, she worked and worked to get it all back on top of the hole, she pulled pine needles over and everything.

You know, miracles of birth or the processes of renewing life are always amazing! Thank You for sharing this Smedgekles.

How cool!

That is really amazing, wow! To be able to see something like that is almost once in a life time. Do you happen to know what kind of turtle she is? I wonder how long it takes for turtle eggs to hatch.

If you want, you can cover the eggs with chicken wire for awhile (take it up after two months to allow the hatchlings out), or something may get them. Crows are especially fond of turtle eggs, but coon, possums and other hungry critters will also be happy to take them for a snack :(. Looks like a slider of some kind.
I wish I could tell you how long they will take to hatch, but so much depends on temp and weather conditions. This may help if anyone's interested;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider

We thought of the same thing catmad, we were going to cover it with hardware cloth and even put something around it so that it stays safe.

Not sure what type turtle she is, just an average pond turtle I guess. The pond is full of them and we see them sitting on branches that protrude out of the water sunning themselves. They sit there till we walk by and then jump in the water, but you can drive the 4-wheeler around and they never jump. I guess they figure if you are on foot you are more of a threat.lol

that is really neat. We saw one laying when we first move here

I once dug up a turtle egg when planting a rose bush. I felt terrible, knowing that I'd probably upended it, which can be fatal for the little turtlette. Decided to try to save it, so carefully (as per the internet) put it in a bowl of damp sand, put it in a plastic bag (vented) and put it on top of the water heater. Had to leave town, and asked Joe to keep an eye on it. Never expected anything to happen. He forgot, and when I came home, there was a little tiny turtle going around the bowl in circles. I quickly (and carefully) took it back to the canal. and watched it swim away. I didn't know then that my neighbor ran a turtle rescue, or I would have taken it to her right off. She said later that she would have kept it a while before releasing, but would have used the canal as well, as it led to the Glades, and she'd rather they didn't hang around the bank of the canal. Yup, it was a Snapper....

How cool!! We don't have turtles around here.. I would have loved to see that... well, enjoyed it on here as well. :)

We live next to a river and I am repeatedly surprised at how far the turtles will travel inland to lay their eggs. I guess they want to be sure the river doesn't rise and drown them.

Wow

That is so cool. Thanks for sharing that.

I just wanted to thank you again for the pictures! Everyone that has come over the last few days I drap them to the computer to see them, they are in as much awe as I am LOL. I've never see that before, not even on the animal plantet shows!

Your welcome!

Now if I could post the video I took of her covering them, that was really neat to watch.