Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

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pjfishpa
Posts: 123
Joined: June 2nd, 2013, 6:51 am
Location: NW Ohio / SE Michigan

Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

Post by pjfishpa »

Last Monday was pretty cool. My daughter and I found a snapper laying eggs this past spring off the road near our house. We fenced the nest off to keep it save from the raccoons and skunks and 103 days later 37 hatchlings crawled out of the ground! Most of the neighbors got involved too. It was neat to educate everyone on Snapping Turtle life cycle, hatchling and nest predation, etc.. I was getting daily reports the last 20 days or so as it became a daily ritual for the grown-ups and kids alike to "check the nest" from incubation day 80 and beyond.

My wife and I found the first one coming out around 9:00 AM and it didn't take long for the word to spread. We all felt like proud parents all over again LOL! The kids helped cart them off to parts of the ditch and a larger connecting ditch that still held water. As soon as they would come back from letting 4 or 5 go there would be more ready to take. We couldn't believe how many eggs survived to hatch!

Attached a few pics of some neonate hoggies found near the nest site too.

I apologize ahead of time for the quality of some of the pics. Mix of iphone and my canon.

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And this handsome guy was out cruising the yard this week too!

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Hope everyone has a great fall!
mikephoto
Posts: 103
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:20 pm

Re: Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

Post by mikephoto »

Nice photos and good job protecting those eggs. I try to help as many as I can cross roads safely.
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JBBoiler
Posts: 147
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 11:53 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

Post by JBBoiler »

Great to be able to see the entire cycle from the eggs to hatchlings. Thanks for sharing. It is also awesome to get the neighbors involved. The kids and adults will hopefully have a better understanding of how incredible nature is and that we need to do our best to save these creatures. Who knows, maybe they will slow down to avoid crushing the next turtle or snake on the road.
craigb
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:02 am
Location: Southern Cal.
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Re: Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

Post by craigb »

Great post ! Thank you.

This is what this forum is about.
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pjfishpa
Posts: 123
Joined: June 2nd, 2013, 6:51 am
Location: NW Ohio / SE Michigan

Re: Labor Day Hatchling Craziness!

Post by pjfishpa »

Thanks! This Forum has been dead all Winter. Hope to see it pick up this Spring.
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