Turtle Eggs in our Mulch

[PalmatierMeg]

This morning my husband called me over to our new property where we have several piles of free mulch. A huge Florida Softshell Turtle (Apalone ferox) sat atop the closest pile of mulch. Her shell was at least 24" long and 18" wide. We approached her carefully because this species can have a testy disposition. But she was absolutely serene, only pulling in her head when we got close. I took the following photos of her. Then she started digging with her hind legs and we realized she had chosen our mulch pile to lay eggs. So we backed away and watched from a distance. I noticed about 4 crows cawing and circling overhead and realized they planned to have turtle eggs for lunch. That won't do.

She finished covering her nest, then strolled away toward our canal and disappeared. We found a piece of shadecloth and anchored it over the nest area with rocks and bags of stones. The crows vanished and haven't returned. Now we wait about 6 weeks for hatchlings, assuming varmints don't get them first.

This is a strange and eerie turtle.

[Palmarum]

Great photos of a rare event. Those eggs will certainly stay warm in that mulch. I wonder what stood out that made her pick that spot. I've only photographed pet turtles laying eggs, but none in the wild, good shots.

Ryan

[QUINNPALMS]

Way Kool!

[realarch]

Pretty cool Meg, you just might see babies.

We brought our box turtles to Hawaii with us when we moved from San Diego. They lay eggs all the time and we've since had 12 more little boxies.

[Moose]

Nice move putting down the shade cloth Meg!

[DavidMac]

This is indeed wonderful! Hopefully you will be able to get some photos of the babies when they hatch out. I found a good sized Soft Shell Turtle on it's back on a trail in the Apalachicola National Forest-the poor thing was wiggling its legs trying to turn over. I carefully picked it up to avoid being clawed or bitten and carried it to a nearby pond. I placed the turtle on the sand close to the edge of the water and it just froze in place for about a minute then suddenly shot forward into the water and swam off. I have never seen a turtle move so fast before!

[BS Man about Palms]

I hope the mulch does not get TOO hot.. The sand/ground does not approach those temps..

but REALLY COOL pix! thanks for posting Meg!

[_Keith]

Really neat experience Meg

[PalmatierMeg]

The shadecloth should keep things cooler. BTW, I forgot to post that photo. So far, no signs of any varmint trying to reach the eggs.

[Moose]

Meg - any idea how long it will be before hatching?

[PalmatierMeg]

56-80 days according to my research. Pretty large window.

[Mandrew968]

That is a great thing. Very cool you caught it too--would hate to plant a palm and disturb them on accident. Thanks for sharing this.

[tjwalters]

Very cool! I've never seen one of those before. I get snakes and skinks laying eggs in my compost bin.