Not joking. 150 Feet might as well be a 5,000 mile journey when you’ve just hatched.

See What I See:

A baby snapping turtle hatched on Sept. 4th after incubating in the ground for 4 months.

Female Snapping Turtles climb out of the river at the end of May, first week of June and they lay a whole clutch of eggs.

They prefer sand and or gravel to lay their eggs in.
Often the soft shoulder of roads are chosen.

In my area (which is eastern, Ontario Canada) female Snappers are approximately 25 years old before they are mature enough to even lay eggs.

Once the laying of the eggs is complete, the female buries her eggs and makes her way back to the river.

The whole process of digging a hole, laying the eggs and then burying them, takes approximately 4 hours.

What is left, is some claw marks in the sand and some disrupted ground.

If the nest doesn’t get raided by a predator like a skunk, a raccoon or a fox, and the weather conditions are correct, baby turtles will hatch in 4 months time.

The odds are completely stacked against Mother turtles and their babies. Most never make the cycle of life completely. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Not this time!

Woot woot Mother Nature! You knocked one right out of the park, Sweetheart!

Thanks for letting us all see what a baby snapper looks like and for letting us see this babe, make it to the river safely.

My job for the day was done...except for the clapping and cheering.

Celebrate the small things in life...because it’s life!

I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey...we will be saving turtles along the way. ;)

~ Rebecca