Yesterday, I was headed out to the pumpkin patch, zapper racket in hand, ready to kill some evil orange bugs, when I saw this turtle on the path up the embankment laying eggs.
It was pretty hard packed dirt as we use the path daily. Used, I should say. She dug a hole, laid her eggs (I presume) and covered them up again with her rear legs. If I hadn't seen it, we wouldn't have noticed and the baby turtles would be squished.
From the opposite angle, showing her position smack dab in the middle of the path.
Here is a close up of Mama Turtle headed back to the river. I read the incubation period for turtle eggs is 2-3 months, so we may or may not be back by the time they hatch.
The raspberry and blackberry bushes are on the far side of the embankment. Out of sight out of mind. I really need to weed them. Luckily, we had followed the turtle and noticed the raspberries were starting to ripen.
The girls ate 2 each. The verdict was "Yummy"
Yesterday, I was headed out to the pumpkin patch, zapper racket in hand, ready to kill some evil orange bugs, when I saw this turtle on the path up the embankment laying eggs.
It was pretty hard packed dirt as we use the path daily. Used, I should say. She dug a hole, laid her eggs (I presume) and covered them up again with her rear legs. If I hadn't seen it, we wouldn't have noticed and the baby turtles would be squished.
From the opposite angle, showing her position smack dab in the middle of the path.
Here is a close up of Mama Turtle headed back to the river. I read the incubation period for turtle eggs is 2-3 months, so we may or may not be back by the time they hatch.
The raspberry and blackberry bushes are on the far side of the embankment. Out of sight out of mind. I really need to weed them. Luckily, we had followed the turtle and noticed the raspberries were starting to ripen.
The girls ate 2 each. The verdict was "Yummy"
2 comments:
I love little bits of wildness that you just stumble across like the turtle laying her eggs. I would have been pretty excited about seeing that because we don't have them in Hokkaido.
My raspberries have just about got leaves, let alone flowers! I only bought it last year so maybe it won't get any fruit this year... I'll have to wait and see.
No turtles? Don't they come in cold-hardy varieties? Snapping turtles? Not that you would want them...
I did find a baby turtle in the doorway to my classroom last fall and wondered where it came from. She probably laid eggs in the yard. She did such a good job covering them up, you really can't tell. I had a terrible time trying to get the dog up NOT on the path this morning.
It was really cool, and M was fascinated, she watched for almost an hour, despite the fact that the action was proceeding at a turtley pace.
Our raspberries are in their second year, but were transplanted to the embankment over the winter. I hope you like the spot you picked, because we still have baby raspberry shoots popping all over the previous location.
When I was a kid, I remember my dad brought home a few dead sticks and told us they were raspberries. I wasn't so sure. I think the majority remained dead sticks, but the two that survived turned into major raspberry bramble. Here in Gifu we have a 100% raspberry survival rate. And I am glad ours are early because we are away in late July/early Aug.
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