Turtle Love

Thanks to a friend, I got this photo via email, taken in New London, NH. It is Snapping Turtles doing their "thing"- Turtle Love.

This is the time of year for turtle love. Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) mate from April through November, with their peak laying season in June and July. The female can hold sperm for several years, using it when she needs to produce fertile eggs. Snappers are mostly aquatic but the female travels over land to find sandy soil to lay her eggs in, and she may have to travel quite a distance to find the right kind of soil. After she digs a hole, she will lay 25 to 80 eggs, guiding them into the nest with her back feet and covering them with sand for protection and incubation. The length of time before they hatch varies with the temperature; up to 9 weeks when it's warmer to 18 weeks when it's cooler.

Snapping Turtles are aggressive and kind of scary on land, but are docile and laid-back in water, so they don't usually pose a threat to human swimmers. They do pose a threat to their food sources though. They are ominvores, so they eat aquatic vegetation but also animal matter, including insects, fish, eggs, baby ducks and geese, small mammals, frogs and other reptiles. They can be up to 35 pounds and the lucky ones can live up to 70 years!

If you see a Snapping Turtle, leave it alone. If it is on land, it is likely looking for a place to lay eggs or just a new place to live and will feel threatened if you get in the way of their mission. They can do some major damage with their strong beak and long neck, so leave them alone and enjoy them by watching but keeping a hands-off attitude!