Turtle Nesting Project 2020 Report

The first turtle nest was found on June 5th 2020. It had already been dug up. With COVID and no grand kids around to watch, it was a challenge to locate the turtle nests before predation. We often had five or more turtles wandering around the property. They may not be Ninja turtles but it is still easy for them to elude watchful eyes. The nesting activity has slowed to a stop. I figure that the raccoons got between 15 and 20 nests while I managed to protect 10 - the same as in 2019. The odds of a turtle egg making it to maturity is apparently only 0.3%. At Singleton Lake I try to improve on those odds.

Snapping Turtle Tracks and Nesting Snapper

Northern Map Turtle in Soil

I have provided the turtles with nesting materials that range from coarse sand to limestone crusher run to inch gravel or larger. There is also a lot of dirt to pick from. All of these sites have great exposure to the sun.

The painted turtles seem to like the herb garden and the dirt. The northern map and snapping turtles like the sand and crusher run although the northern maps also go for the large gravel. I did not see any of  the musk turtles this year.

A Pair of Northern Map Nests in Gravel

The trick is to quietly mark the nest during the laying procedure. The turtles do an excellent job of packing the material back down and covering the eggs over. It takes a real Turtle Tracker to find an unmarked nest without the female turtle on it. After they leave I place protection on the nest as shown. The first night or two is crucial to keeping the persistent raccoons out. Layers of protection are gradually removed to ensure good solar heating. By late July the nests are uncovered and nature takes over.

One or two heavy steel grates Topped with Mesh Boards

Some turtles hatch out in September and October but I also see lots of turtles in the spring, having over-wintered in the nest. These turtles all get a free ride to the marsh.

Snapping turtles emerging from the nest - 29 of them at least

Apparently 80 percent of snapping turtle nests get predated. I expect those statistics apply to all turtles. Snapping turtles often live more than 100 years with a maximum theoretical life span of 170 years. The lifespan of turtles seems to correlate with their size. I have read that the smaller northern map turtles can be expected to survive 20 years.

Cultures around the world have various stories about how our homeland has been built on the back of a giant turtle. It is a nice thought that by protecting the humble turtle we are also respecting our homeland.