We have baby Snapping Turtles!

On September 30, word spread among regular park goers that Nest #3, where we witnessed the first adult female laying her eggs in June, was showing movement. Yes! One tiny but perfect Snapping Turtle was fighting to dig out of the dried mud. One after another, over hours, 30 young emerged from the ground through the same hole. There were key members of the Turtle Monitoring group onsite, and others stayed to ensure the youngsters safely made it to the water's edge.

Report on protected Snapping Turtle nests:

Nest 1--no sign of activity as of 15 October

Nest 2--eggs lost to predation

Nest 3--30 young turtles hatched and released successfully

Nest 4--the nest protector has disappeared! FOSS did not remove it.

The first baby Snapping Turtle pushes itself out of the hard ground. Photo by Wayne Renaud

Duncan (the builder of the nest protectors) carefully transporting newly-hatched turtles. :Photo by Linda Gray