Impromptu Lesson

My daughter and I went to a popular walking trail last night, looking for warblers. We saw a few interesting birds, and on the way in we also saw this painted turtle out in the open.

There are wetlands all around the trail, so we didn’t think much of it. We figured it was crossing the trail to find a spot lay eggs. But on the way back, a couple were seated on the grass beside the turtle, and they told us that she was laying eggs.

Indeed she was — or rather, preparing to. It was a neat experience to watch her laboriously digging the hole with her hind legs.

We’ve read that turtles lay eggs, but it was a very different experience to watch her in action for awhile. She would scrape deeply with one leg, shift, scrape deeply with the other, and then moisten the cavity periodically with her own fluids. She was intent on her work and completely undaunted by the four spectators she had accumulated.

We observed her for 10 minutes or so, then went on our way. This morning, I went running down at the same trail, and when I checked the spot it looked like this.

Why did she choose that spot — in mown grass along a paved trail, in not-particularly-moist ground? Presumably the eggs are below-ground, 5-10 cm according to what I read this morning. Sometimes painted turtles dig “false nests” before settling on the site where they actually lay their eggs, but without digging in myself I’ll never know. She certainly had done some serious excavation and turned up all those small stones.

Apparently the eggs will hatch in August or September, and the baby turtles may not come out, but may arrange themselves symmetrically in the nest and winter there. We won’t expect any juvenile turtle sightings anytime soon! But what good moment to have passed by.