This one goes back a little too far, certainly not counting as this past week in any way, but I didn’t want it back-to-back with XIIX. Once again, I was out exploring at night by headlamp, but really, I was standing just outside the front door when I spotted a dark spot in the yard not far from the greenhouse. It was easily identified just by getting a little closer.
That’s a female yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) with an excavation to lay eggs within – I couldn’t see into the cavity to know if there were already eggs deposited, and was trying not to disturb her, but there was no doubt that she knew I was there. Carapace length was somewhere around 20-25cm, and she’s about 35 meters from the closest edge of the pond (all uphill.) I didn’t have to wait long to see something, though.
I blew my timing by a mere hair here, since the egg has just dropped. I observed for a little while, and noticed that she raised herself to release the egg, then lowered herself back down for a minute or so before the next one was in position to be laid.
Better timing on this one – I learn fast. She continued with her duties with no further recognition that I was there – I imagine that there wasn’t anything she could do to halt things at this point anyway.
But, we have video:
I left her alone soon after that, and returned the next day to examine the nest. The only evidence was a couple of faint claw marks where she’d dragged dirt over the excavation, but it wasn’t right where the hole had been dug.
Using the other photos and the video to compare, the nest hollow is actually at the bottom of this image, slightly left – she’d dragged leaves over top to help disguise it. I put a tomato cage and a couple of plant markers around the perimeter, and noted the date on my calendar, with a reminder at 60 days to begin checking routinely (the inside time for incubation is about 65 days, outside up to 80.) Hopefully, we’ll have another Estate Find around that time, either for her or for the common musk turtle, perhaps both.
To add, we’ve found numerous turtles venturing across the yards in the past couple of weeks, since this is laying season and the pond is absolutely loaded with turtles. In two months, I’m going to have to be very careful when mowing, since the newborns will likely be returning. You may ask, why do the mother turtles wander so far to lay eggs and present a hazard for the babies just to return to the water, but I imagine it has something to do with a) finding spots that maintain the right temperatures, and b) finding spots that won’t get flooded with heavy rains, or at least will drain quickly. This one was easily the highest location on the property; just out of sight is the concrete pad that used to be a small basketball court and is now a greenhouse foundation (because neither of us could give a rat’s ass about basketball.)
Anyway, we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks…