June 09, 1988 - The Long, Endangered Lives of TurtlesJune 9, 1988/The Suffolk Times/Page 13A
The Long, Endangered Lives of Turtles
By Paul Stoutenburgh
Each week I can tell what is going on
in the natural world by the telephone
calls I receive. This week the calls re-
volved mainly around the seasonal lay-
ing of turtle eggs.
After spending the winter months in
hibernation at the bottom of a pond or
bog, or deep in the ooze of a marsh, the
cold - blooded turtles, warmed by the
sun's movement north, resume their
normal life. We can best see this on
logs or rocks projecting from the water
or on the banks of streams and ponds
where they come out of the cold water
and bask in the sun.
It's surprising to find that many peo-
ple are not afraid of turtles, yet snakes
throw a chill into them. Both are rep-
Focus on
Nature
tiles, but with the myths and stories
that surround snakes, they are on most
people's danger list. We have no poi-
sonous snakes here on Long Island and
it is a shame this fear of snakes still
prevails. Children often keep their 5-
and -l0 -cent turtles as pets, yet if a
snake, even a young one, were kept in
the house, most mothers would be hor-
rified.
The turtle we hear most about is the
snapping turtle that lives in our fresh-
water ponds and marshes. It sometimes
reaches 40 pounds or more. Its ability to
walk a good distance on land in search
of a nesting site makes it most
conspicuous. Whether seen laying its
eggs in a sand trap of a local golf course
or lumbering across the backyard, it's
sure to draw attention.
The usual nesting place is somewhere
in the open where the sun can do the
incubating. Once the nest site is found,
the hind legs do the digging and a hole
is excavated two or three inches deep
with a cavity below. Then the egg lay-
ing begins. This process takes two or
three hours and when complete will be
covered over and left. The mother does
not return.
This Year or Next
The eggs are warmed by the sun and
develop for about 10 weeks. By late
summer the little turtles will hatch out.
Should the summer be cool and rainy
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SNAPPING TURTLE- -This medium -sized female is probably 30 or more years old. She will lay 20 to 30 eggs
and leave them for the sun to incubate.
and development slowed, the young will
winter over 'til the following spring.
They will again be warmed and will de-
velop so they can make their way out of
their underground womb. How they
know the direction to water is still un-
known but instinct always heads them
in that direction.
There are many hurdles to overcome
before the eggs are hatched and the
young find their way back to their
marsh or pond. The roaming raccoon,
opossum or fox often has eggs for
breakfast. Many's the nest I've found
upturned with the empty white shells
strewn about. Even the just - hatched
young make a tasty treat for these
roamers of the night.
Actually turtles should be called liv-
ing fossils. Their linkage to the past is
even more ancient than dinosaurs'.
Anyone who has seen a big snapping
turtle will vouch for its prehistoric
look: huge armored claws ideal for dig-
ging and ripping things apart, a great
retracting head that snaps at anything
within range and a shell often algae-
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covered with massive armored plates. Its
rough, scaly tail gives it an ominous
look. Everything about this creature
looks prehistoric.
Turtles Most Often Seen
A snapper is the turtle most seen be-
cause of its size and ability to range
from its wet habitat. Our other common
turtles of the pond and wet areas are the
painted and spotted turtles whose habits
of hibernation, nest digging and egg
laying correspond closely to the snap-
ping turtle. Even the box turtle follows
this procedure but, of course, all on
land. Instead of hibernating in the mud
of a pond or marsh, the box turtle hi-
bernates in the soft ground below the
frostline and its eggs are laid in the
ground in the same fashion as its water
cousins.
The box turtle is handsome with
brown plates and symmetrical yellow
and orange markings that vary in size
and form. It is said that a male can be
told from a female by its red eye, a kind
of unique idea. Most people see them
crossing the road and it is here many
make their last crossing. I hope you
stop and carry them to safety. Like all
turtles, they are having a hard time
making it with man's encroachment on
the land.
We have other freshwater turtles, the
musk turtle and the mud turtle, but
these are much less known. They are the
creatures of the slow- moving waters and
wet, boggy areas off the beaten track.
They are less conspicuous and numerous
than other members of the reptile fam-
ily.
Turtles and snakes are becoming less
and less numerous on our island. It is a
rare day when we have the opportunity
to see them. Count yourself lucky if a
snake basks in the sun alongside your
path or a turtle lumbers across your
lawn in search of a nesting spot. If the
island keeps expanding at its present
rate, there might be a day when we no
longer see any of these interesting crea-
tures that have made their home here for
thousands of years.
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