Drive with Care -- Turtles Everywhere

'Tis the season.  Turtles are out and about.

This snapper was a tad confused -- we found her meandering through a parking lot in Huntsville while collecting Taffy from the vet (us, not the turtle... turtles rarely collect dogs from vets or anywhere else)

I was able to gently steer her back into the tall cool grass and on down to the creek below.  She was in search of somewhere soft where she could dig a nest and lay her eggs.

At this time of year, turtles, seeking soft gravel, are a common sight along the shoulders of the roads.  Please slow down, give them a chance. They aren't the fastest creatures, so you cannot use the excuse that works with deer -- "it just leapt out in front of me, officer..."  There's plenty of opportunity to see them early, and steer around them.

They are endangered -- mainly because of the automobile.  And they are time machines. Forget the TARDIS on Dr. Who, these animals really are a look in a distant past, remaining essentially unchanged since the days of the dinosaurs.

You have to respect that.  So...

 Brake for Turtles, and Give Turtles a Break.

Tiny Little Turtle

While I was working on accounts today in the office, David brought me an assistant.

This tiny, but extremely active, little chap is a baby snapping turtle. Brian found him in the grass. After his visit in the office to check up on the math, he (or she?) was lovingly taken down to the pond where there is lots of food but not lots of predators for little turtles.

After all, this is a Time Machine. A member of a species that considered T-Rex to be a flash in the pan. Snapping turtles should be treated with great reverence, since there are very few creatures still around that can trace their ancestry back 215 million years. (Just try it -- get on one of those geneology websites and just see how far back you get!)

They can live for 75 years or longer, so we hope this little fellow enjoys a long and happy life in the Lake of Bays. We don't know if it was a boy or a girl -- that would have been determined by where the egg was in the nest, and how warm it was. The sex of these turtles is determined by temperature (chicks are hot, dudes are cool). We hope global warming doesn't toss a spanner into that.

Time Machine Under the Dock

Nora and Vivian spent their last evening at Bondi fishing from the Main Dock. The girls were pulling in plenty of small fish (If you lie on the dock and lock down beneath it, you can see all these 'small fry' swishing about).

Their Dad was going back and forth between the two girls, taking the fish gently off the hooks and live-releasing them to be caught again.

Until Viv, who's only 3, caught a fish she couldn't pull up on her own.

Jamie went to assist, only to discover that not only had Vivian caught a fish, a snapping turtle had latched onto the same fish, and she had a veritable Time Machine dangling heavily from her line.

Today’s snapping turtles have hardly changed from 215 million years ago when Proganochelys, the most primitive turtle known, lived. Proganochelys had already most features of today’s turtles, although it was unable to pull its head and legs into its shell. (come to that, neither can our modern snapping turtle) In comparison the age of the dinosaurs was approximately 150 million years ago, 100 million years more recent than the first turtle. Turtles were one of the few reptile groups, which survived the impact of a six mile wide meteorite on earth and the following nuclear winter about 65 million years ago, which is known as the K-T boundary.

While the ancestor turtles were tinkering with designs of shell and size of turtle, the design of the snapping turtle as we know it today dates hasn't changed for 40 million years. These are creatures who are entitled to regard the brontosaur and mastodon as brief zoological fads. Humans have been around about 3.5 million years. Snappers are still trying to figure out "us newcomers."

When you look at one, you are getting a glimpse back into an extremely distant past. I did a post about them last summer, when David found a young snapper across the road in need of rescue.

You have to respect these turtles -- with their heavy, pointed beaks capable of snapping off a small branch and their five massive claws on each foot, they are formidable swimmers and hunters. Luckily they are non-aggressive towards people, unless they are cornered on land or you are pestering them. In the water, around swimmers, they will just slip away. Best to just let them be. The observers thought this was a HUGE turtle... but in fact snapping turtles can weight up to 40 pounds (18 kg) and be about 14" (36 cm) long in their rough carapace. This is a younger, medium sized but still big snapping turtle.

While they do have to surface to breathe, they can rest underwater for up to four HOURS... try holding your breath, and you'll be impressed right away by this ability. They can live well over 75 years, with some reports of individuals who are well over 100. You count the rings in the shell, rather like counting tree rings, to determine age, since they continue to grow throughout their lifetime. Since they are so long lived, they don't begin to breed until they are about 19 years old. And here's a funky fact: the female can hold the sperm in her body for several seasons, so if she doesn't find a mate the following year (or years) she can still produce fertile eggs.

The greatest threat to this species is now the car -- they get hit when they come out to the edge of the roads in spring to lay their eggs. And since it is the females that are out there, getting struck by cars, this is a big concern for the population. So if you spot a turtle on the road, slow down, go around them. It would be a shame if a species whose ancestors survived the meteor strike that wiped out the dinosaurs were to succumb under the wheels of a Smartcar...

Slow down... give turtles a brake!

If you want to learn more about these amazing reptiles, the best website we've found is the Tortoise Trust.

The female lays up to 24 eggs -- and occasionally as many as 50! in the spring, and then goes away and leaves the hidden nest and the newly hatched turtles, to fend for themselves when they hatch in 80 to 90 days' time, usually in September and October. The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperature in the nest. Below a certain temperature, the turtles will be males. Above it, females. Easy to remember, because the dudes are cool and the chicks are hot...

The dock snapper ate Vivian's fish. He then hung about under the dock and grabbed another small fish as Jamie was releasing it. Jamie dropped in a worm, and snap, that too was history.

This morning, the turtle was still there, ready for the morning fishermen to appear. He (or she? hard to tell) ate a fish right off the line that Aaron had in the water. It was all reminiscent of the Old Man and the Sea.

The big excitement then became not so much the fishing, but the turtle spotting. Aaran and Stevie got right down to check under the dock, and when they spotted the snapper, they found themselves joined by a whole crew of keen turtle watchers. John, who did catch a good sized small-mouth bass off the dock yesterday (and let it go) decided that he'd best check his tackle, because with the turtle in direct competition, the open waters of the bay began to look a lot more hopeful for serious fishing -- and keeping.

By the way, these photos were taken with my camera, at the end of the dock, with both the fish and the turtle about 1.2 meters down. Which rather nicely demonstrates how clear the lake is, when the view is not being blocked by a snapping turtle...

Face to Face with the Past

They've been around since the dinosaurs stomped through the primordial swamps. And they have pretty much remained as they began. When you look into the eyes of a snapping turtle (something that is not so easy to do, actually) you are looking into a time machine.

When David found this little chap hanging out near one of the woodpiles, he did the neighbourly thing: he scooped the little guy up and transported him to the lake. The snapper was very grateful. These turtles are happiest in freshwater lakes, and the corners of our bays are ideal for them. They like the cat-tails and bullrushes, and the muddy bottom of the lake in those areas.

As their Latin name suggests -- Chelydra serpentina -- snapping turtles can strike like a snake. They are unique in that aspect among turtles. They will defend themselves by striking viciously and they are so fast it's hard to see them coming, so it is best to give them their space. An adult snapper can weight up to 40 pounds and be about 14" long in their rough carapace.

But, we hasten to add, you have to aggravate them first. Turtles do not lie in wait in the trees planning to jump on you. People are not their first choice of a meal -- and while they are savage and efficient hunters, when in the water, they are quite unaggressive towards people and will usually just slip away from you.

On land, however, where they feel vulnerable, they can be quite fierce. It is best to give them their space. Often at this time of year you will see females on the edge of the road, digging their nests into the soft gravel shoulders. Don't ever mess with a female about to lay her eggs! But do take care -- car kills are the leading cause of death among these ancient and amazing creatures, and have been extensive enough to put them on the endangered list. Turtles don't move all that fast -- you should be able to avoid them while driving. Really...

David wisely wore gloves to handle this fellow. Even a small snapper like this can give you a nasty bite if you are foolish enough to stick a finger in his beak. It's a good chance to see their fat fleshy tail, their five clawed feet and that signature sharp beaked face, however!

He - or she? - is back in the lake now, and we wish our snapping turtle well. Even though, no doubt, later in the year we will be heartbroken when one of the wild ducklings vanishes, yanked down from beneath the water by a snapping turtle. Everybody has to eat. Every species has a place. We have to let Nature work. Fluffy ducklings score high on the Cute Factor, but take another look at the face of this snapping turtle. The species has survived for some 230 million years. you have to respect that, too.

Tiny Little Turtle

Back in May, we enjoyed a close encounter with Mama Snapping Turtle, en route to dig her nest and lay her eggs. She was just the vanguard of the snapping turtle expeditionary forces seeking soft places to dig their nests.

The fruits of those labours -- so to speak -- showed up at the Wiener Roast on Tuesday. No, calm down... we weren't serving up Turtle Soup!!! Far from it!

The Martin/Suits Collective found a tiny baby snapping turtle working his way across the hill above the cookout beach. Glad to be saved the long walk, he hitch-hiked down with the family, and was much admired by all at the beach.

After we'd all made our introductions to young Wilberforce the Snapping Turtle, explaining about how old and unchanged these turtles are (they date back to the dinosaurs, but are FAR more fun than a T-Rex), how cars are one of their greatest 'predators', and how their sex is determined by the temperature in the nest. Given it's been a cool start to the summer, we're guessing he's a young male turtle.

The mortality rate is huge for these little guys. Up to 40 eggs are laid by the female, who then just goes away and does whatever adult turtles do. About 100 days later, the tiny turtles chip their way out of the egg, using a little knob on their beaks, and try to figure out the shortest path to water. On the way, they need to dodge lots of other animals that would like to add turtle soup to their own menu: crows, hawks, herons, bullfrogs, large fish and snakes.

We released Wilberforce into the security of the stand of bullrushes and cattails at the water's edge, giving him the best shot we could, and wishing him lots of luck.

Turtle Fact: When the turtle catches a cold it floats at an angle and cannot dive!

Why? In the turtle, because the ribs are fused to the carapace, the lungs cannot be expanded by rib muscles. Instead, turtles have special paired lung muscles, attached to a "diaphragm", which force the air out of the lungs when they contract. In the relaxed state, the lungs of turtles - in contrast to other animals - are maximally filled with air. Turtles can shift air from one lung to another, thereby displacing their centre of gravity at will, so that the lungs act like the swim bladder of a fish. When the lung is diseased, this ability is impaired.

Snapping Turtles

We have a fondness for snapping turtles. Not, mind, when they are snapping at your fingers -- which they might just do if you confront them on dry land. They are usually non-aggressive, and will just quietly swim away from you, but on land, they do feel threatened, and can move surprisingly fast.
As Nancy discovered one spring, riding her horse 'Bacon' across a narrow bridge. A mother snapper was busy laying her eggs, and Nancy figured she could just sneak past on the far side of the track. Luckily, Bacon was faster than any of them, and leapt out of the way. He did, however, view rocks with deep suspicion after that, not having realized they could come to life and chase him.

This snapper was over by Farside cottage. She was probably up from the lake looking for a place to lay her eggs. This is the time of year! Snappers lay eggs in a soft, well-drained soil, in a flask-shaped nest she digs out with her front legs. About 40 eggs get laid in the nest, and then Mom heads back to the lake.

It's hard to get ahead if you're a turtle. First of all, lots of critters like to find and dig up the nests -- the picture shows all that was left of one last year. If you do make it through the egg phase, dig your way out of the nest and find your way to the lake, there are still critters that will eat you.

The sex of the snapping turtle is determined by the temperature in the nest -- at 25 degrees C, you will be a boy turtle. 30 degrees C or more, you'll be painting the nursery pink. Global warming could throw quite a spanner into this system...


Mom turtle wasn't too pleased with the camera. She cannot pull her head all the way into her shell, as some turtles do, because there's just too much turtle in there already. She did pull her head back as far as she could, bending her spine into an S-shape to do that, and I'm sure she was happy when we left her to continue her search for a nice nest site, partly sunny, partly shaded...

The greatest predator of the snapping turtle is the automobile. These creatures have been around, pretty much unchanged, since the dinosaurs roamed the swamps, but they are now threatened, simply because so many get killed by cars. Slow down, we say... take your cue from this great bumper sticker!