Momma Turtle

[DavidInNH]

This turtle keeps returning to our yard to lay eggs. I first saw her in 1993, but I haven't see her since she I watched her fall of the new retaining wall in the front yard a few years ago, but my wife said that she had. She has now moved around to the back yard.

At least I think she is laying eggs. I've never wanted to dig up the dirt to check for fear of breaking the eggs or contaminating them with human odor. I don't know how far she travels to lay the eggs - I last saw her heading for the creek.

Does anybody know more about this kind of turtle?

-david

 

[DavidInNH]

Here is another view with her neck stretched out. I don't want to get anywhere near those jaws! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[TerryinMD]

Dave,

If I'm not mistaken, it's a snapping turtle. Do you live near water?

Terry

 

[EdKing]

Looks like a common snapping turtle. I've seen them from teaspoon size, up to wash tub size, and everywhere in between. Definitly avoid those jaws, that neck can stretch out about twice as far as your photo, and I've seen them crush the end of a broom stick. They are good to eat as well, breaded and deep fried.

 

[DavidInNH]

Yes, I have a lot of water around me. When I saw her last, she was heading for the creek. She could head downstream and find a nice 50 acre lake or upstream and find a pretty decent size beaver pond. I wonder why she has picked my place though, I'm not that close to either of those.

-david

 

[DavidInNH]

Yep, see the other picture for an example of how far the neck comes out. Thank goodness she moves slow on land. I sure wouldn't want to meet her while swimming.

-david

 

[EdKing]

<font color=blue>Yep, see the other picture for an example of how far the neck comes out.</font color=blue>

Actually, I was refering to your second photo when I said it would stretch twice as far. Looks almost like a snake coming out of a turtle shell.

 

[Ozarker]

Yep...that's a snapper. And she is probably laying her eggs in that second picture. They did out a space with hind legs, lay eggs and then cover them. The sex is determined by the incubation temperature and they will select different spots from year to year to determine sex of the offspring.

Had a snapper about half that size take a shortcut across my yard last weekend. My young Weimaraner learned a valuable lesson about getting his nose too close to the front end of a snapper. He is now older and wiser.

 

[Thomas]

Do you have alot of frogs around your area for turles love to eat frogs..if you see one turtle there more around..be extra carefull if you should have a pet.

 

[DavidInNH]

Ooohh...
I'll be really careful.

-david