Wildlife Week on DPC Continues...

Olympus 12-45mm f/4.0 Pro

06/03/2007 04:52:39 PM · #1

Well, in the past week we've seen a rescued mallard duckling and a squirrel plucked from a swimming pool. Here's our next installment; yesterday evening I felt like I was on Discovery Channel.
I left a family gathering about 1 1/2 hours before sundown and headed home, and along the way, spotted a snapping turtle at the roadside. The turtle looked darn familiar - it was in the same exact spot that, one day earlier, I had stopped to assist a snapper across the road (rush hour, heavy truck traffic, she would have been dead for sure). Indeed, it was the very same turtle, and she was digging her nest in the road shoulder, with traffic roaring past! This is a heavily-traveled state highway.

I stopped and carefully approached on foot. She ignored me and kept digging. I could see that the nest was dug quite deeply, perhaps 4 inches (100mm) or more, with an entrance about 2 inches (50mm) across, and seemingly scooped wider below. Difficult to see into the nest, she shadowed and covered it pretty effectively!

As I watched, totally amazed, she finished digging and began to lay her clutch of eggs. She'd lay two eggs in short succession, about 15 seconds or so between. She would use her right hind foot to guide the falling egg into place. She'd then rest for a couple minutes and repeat the exercise. She laid over 20 eggs, I'm not sure exactly how many in total.

After she finished laying, she rested for about 5 minutes, perhaps less. She then started gently filling the hole with material she had removed. She could see none of what she was doing, but she worked with great care, scooping in and then, with her feet balled up like fists, packing it down while she held her body up on her powerful tail.

She finished filling in the nest, scraped some gravel around to make her work less obvious, then turned and headed home...

I watched her to make sure she was not going back across the road, then headed home myself, in awe of what I'd just witnessed. I looke at my watch... it was well past sundown, and I had been watching her for about 90 minutes. It seemed like 10.

A little background:
Her carapace (top shell) length was approx. 8 inches (200mm) making her probably between 15 and 20 years old. She may have a lifespan of more than 75 years, assuming she's not killed during her nesting migration. She's already beaten 1500:1 odds to get to the point where she is today. I'm grateful for my chance to play a (very) small part in her success by helping her across the roadway, and in turn to be granted the privilege of witnessing her successful nesting.
Snapping turtles are incredibly ancient. They are not much changed from their direct ancestors, the first turtles, which appeared 215 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs. They are the ancestors of 80% of todays turtle species. They survived the mass extinction (the K-T event) 65 million years ago, as well as ice ages and other drastic climate changes. Amazing creatures.

Message edited by author 2007-06-03 16:53:01.

OdysseyF22

Panasonic DC-G9

06/03/2007 05:20:02 PM · #2

That is incredible, you were very lucky to be able to witness the entire nesting process! And your photos of it are awesome; they really tell the entire story. Very cool!

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/03/2007 05:41:40 PM · #3

Kirbic... ya know... this is the kinda thing that for inexplicable reasons I like DPC.

It is not that you document the whole event, which I like photographically and otherwise as well, but that you give a historical perspective. I think you are the first person ever to mention the K-T event at DPC.(Which probably shaped the planet as we know it today moreso than any other single event in recent geologic history)

sfalice

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

06/03/2007 05:42:21 PM · #4

Great pictures, great storytelling and a terrific save of this amazing creature.

ShutterPug

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/03/2007 05:45:52 PM · #5

Incredible! What a treat for you to not only get to watch this event, but to also get such good photos of it.

hahn23

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS II USM Lens

06/03/2007 05:49:31 PM · #6

Thanks! I really enjoyed this nature photojournalism. First rate work!

colorcarnival

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Olympus 45mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital

06/03/2007 05:51:07 PM · #7

Thanks for sharing a great story. Love the photos!

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/03/2007 07:01:05 PM · #8

amazing. those buggers can be extremely aggressive, and i've heard that their jaws are actually stronger than alligator jaws.

bod

06/03/2007 07:07:44 PM · #9

Fantastic.

cryan

Nikon D700

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon

06/03/2007 07:08:24 PM · #10

I've had to rescue a couple of those guys that were trying to cross very busy roads. Its always hairy and I don't recommend trying to touch one unless you have experience in such things. They will take off a finger or more if they are big. I'm very jealous that you got to see that first hand, an amazing experience I'm sure. Great shots.

06/03/2007 07:13:03 PM · #11

Originally posted by Skip:

amazing. those buggers can be extremely aggressive, and i've heard that their jaws are actually stronger than alligator jaws.

They can appear quite vicious when approached on land! This gal was pretty much "in the zone" and not interested in me at all. I could literally have my lens within a foot of her and provoke no reaction.
Their aggressiveness on land is a defensive show. In water, they will quickly depart if they are startled, or they can be curious and approach, but never attack. I've been bitten more than once by ones about this size, they actually don't do much damage. They bite with the intent to warn, not to inflict injury. I wouldn't want to be bitten by a really large specimen though.
They actually make interesting pets. I kept one for several months when I was a kid, and it became very tame; it liked to have its chin stroked.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/03/2007 07:16:07 PM · #12

Originally posted by stdavidson:

I'm not sure I'm the first... but I'm sure the reference will spark a few Google sessions ;-)

NstiG8tr

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

06/03/2007 08:03:12 PM · #13

Great photos Fritz. Congrats to you. Not many people get see stuff like that happen. The turtles here come up on the beaches along the river to lay their eggs. I've watched different turtles do this several times on the beach near where we camp. The really cool part I think would be to show up shortly after they hatch and are making their way to water. I've yet to see this happen.

Bugzeye

Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital

06/03/2007 08:40:43 PM · #14

Nice job fritz, We should have a GTG for the hatching. Just one question. Did that turtle flip you off?