Oh, Snap, Literally!

Have a look at who paid us a visit yesterday afternoon, a gorgeous snapping turtle!

It was underneath the lone tree we having close to the back of our house, which is a good 400+ feet from our pond.  We were standing nearby the tree talking when this dude decided to lumber out and make a run (I use the term run loosely) in the direction of the pond -

The timing was perfect, as my second cousin once removed (thank you Google for clarifying), Ms. Emma, was with us.  She wasn't as impressed as I, and a bit scared of this prehistoric looking creature - 

It behaved as snapping turtles typically do once they feel threatened and began acting tough with it's mouth open, while lunging and snapping.  However, I know the act and wasn't swayed in the slightest -

Against my better judgement I put her back under the tree and left her alone.  Really should have relocated her far away from our pond.  As much as I adore turtle, these snapping turtles are really an environmental hazard!  They can disrupt small ornamental ponds by eating fish and vegetation.

We'll meet again I'm sure, at which time we'll address her living arrangements.

More Wildlife Adventures Of A Mailman

On Friday afternoon, I was delivering a large package to one of the houses in the ritzy neighborhood of my route.  As I was walking up the driveway I noticed something tiny moving near the garage doors.  Even from a distance it caught my attention, perhaps it was my spidey-senses, and I knew it was some sort of critter.

So, I picked up my pace with excitement and lo and behold looky what it was! A very tiny, new born I'd guess, snapping turtle -

Still covered in the dried dirt it crawled out from -

Just look at how tiny!  Not much bigger than my thumbnail -

So, I immediately started looking for others in that general area.  I was a tad leery since I was now at their garage area and poking around looking under their bushes and the car parked in the driveway but whatever I didn't care and unfortunately I didn't notice any others.

Across from their garages, about some ~30', the lawn pitches upwards quite a bit. The slope, which is all mulch, runs the width of that side of the property, from street to wooded back area out back. In the mulch I noticed the mulch disturbed and that something had been digging - 

Upon closer inspection, sure enough, it was the snapping turtle nest!  Sadly, it looked as though a predator had located it and dug the nest up, and looking at all the egg shells guessing left with a full belly -

Here's my theory - of course there very well could have been others young'n survived the attached and that hatched along with this dude but I'm thinking most of the eggs were eaten and the egg this little fella came out of was spared.  Whether the predator simply missed it or ate it's full and left or was scared off before digging up and finishing ALL the eggs.

Snapping turtle eggs typically hatch between late August and October, so this little fella is right on time.

Although, the area these homes are in does appear to abut what looks like wetlands with reeds, cattails, Golden Rod and Purple Loosestrife throughout, I've never seen a pond or standing marshy water.

Being SO tiny and with no water nearby I assumed this little guy was facing some insurmountable odds if I left him where he was, so I opted for relocation and in the LLV we both went.  He kept me company in the truck for the next couple of hours -

I brought him to a nice watery, marshy wetland spot about a half mile from my house. Trudged through the overgrown brush and thorns and poison ivy, placed him on a rock as close to the water as I could get, gave him a safety lecture about staying out of the street, and released him -

I hoping his chances of surviving improved and that he likes his new home!

The Wonders Of Mother Nature

Continuing with the turtle postings, here's another one -

I was heading back home from running an errand this morning before work, when I saw what I thought was another BIG snapping turtle about to cross the road.

However, as I got closer I was amazed to see that she wasn't about to cross but rather she was in the process of digging a hole to lay her eggs, right there on the edge of the road.

As much as I wanted to get out to inspect things, the last thing I wanted to do was spook her, so I threw the car in park, climbed into the passenger seat and took the below pictures.

Hoping she was able to complete her mission without anyone bothering her or trying to move her and that she made it safely back into the water.  However, I'm not sure how the littles will do when they hatch and emerge, as I suspect some will wander into the road and surely get run over.

I find these BIG monster turtles SO awesome and truly amazing!

Turtle Save Wednesday!

On the way to my third delivery stop of the day, and as I rounded the bend, this MONSTER was crossing the road! And I am NOT exaggerating when I say she was a MONSTER!  I've never seen such a BIG turtle except for the Galapagos tortoise and maybe a sea turtle at the aquarium.

She was moving from my left to right and was smack dab in the middle of the other lane. Since there was no one behind me, I slammed on the brakes and stopped in my lane, threw the LLV in park and jumped out.  Fortunately, an older man in a pickup truck heading the opposite direction, saw me then the turtle and stopped traffic in that direction.

I ran up to her, picked her up - OMG, she must have weighed 25-30 pounds, SO heavy, and I carried her in the direction she was headed and placed her on the side of the road -

These pictures do not truly show how BIG she really was.  I can't imaging anyone hitting her with their vehicle and walking away unscathed.

What a beauty!

I would have liked to take more pics but traffic was backing up, plus the mail must be delivered, so I jumped back into the mail truck and off I went but not before the older gentlemen in the pickup gave me a thumbs up and yelled "nice job" as he drove by.

I Named Her "Postal"...

I worked this morning delivering packages to Franklin residents.  While driving back roads and side streets, I came across this BIG lady just sitting in the roadway, TSK TSK!

Fortunately, an older gentleman in a van was already stopped, which helped block and protect her so other passerby's didn't hit her.

I pulled over immediately and jumped out to assist.  It was clear that the older guy didn't know what to do and had no intentions of getting too close to her.  I on the other hand just walked over, picked her up  -

and walked her to the other side of the road, in the direction she was headed in and down a small embankment, then safely put her down.  I gave her the same speech I've given the other turtles I've rescued and hope she takes heed -

She was none-to-happy with me when I picked her up and lunged a few times trying to get a piece of me, silly girl.

Hoping all's well that ends well!

Another Turtle Save!

Good news, another turtle rescued from the middle of the road this morning!

This one a youngster Snapping turtle.

I was beside it before I realized it was a turtle, it blended in so well.  Fortunately, there was no one behind me or coming in the opposite directions, so I hit the brakes, backed up, threw the LLV in park and jumped out to make the save!

I turned around and drove to the pond, which was right there.  You can actually see it in the background of the first pic.  Ironically, this dude was only some ~50' from where I made my last rescue of the Painted turtle.

Before placing the dude into the water and setting it free, I performed a road side surgical procedure.  You can see it in the pic below - I circled it in red, a leach was firmly attached and sucking away.  No worries, I grabbed my handy-dandy scissors and with one snip the leach was no more.

I'm gonna call it a win win!

Snappy

I went for a run on Wednesday afternoon, around 6ish and noticed this lovely lady making her way up the embankment and towards the schools parking lot.  Since she was headed away from the street, I didn't intervene.

I don't carry my phone when I run, so when I finished, I grabbed my phone, jumped in the car and drove the mile to the school to check on her.  Sure enough she was far enough away from the street and seemed content, so except for snapping (no pun intended) a few pics, I left her alone.

Interestingly, on Thursday morning, 7:15AM to be exact, I was headed out to breakfast.  Driving past the school, which at this time of the morning was all hustle and bustle with buses and parents dropping off their kids.  Guessing all the activity made this girl nervous, as we drove past the school I noticed her making her way back down the same embankment she had climbed the evening before.

We didn't stop, hoping she'd be fine and that no one would bother her.  There was no sign of her an hour later when we were headed back home, which was encouraging.  On my noontime walk, I made a couple additional laps in that area but was unable to locate her, so guessing she made her way to safety and is fine.

BEWARE, Turtle Crossing

I came across this new born baby snapping turtle the other morning on my walk.  One of it's litter mates was squashed in the roadway nearby, sniff.  I moved this little fella safely away from the road and in the water, where hopefully it'll be fine and surive.

I stopped this rather large lady was just before she walked into the road.  I moved her safely to the edge of the tree line, in the direction she was traveling, and towards the water.  It was for her own good, however, she did NOT see it that way, nope!  She was a bigg'n and she definitely wanted a piece of me with her attempts at getting ahold of me with her snapping. 

Honestly, shocks me that turtles this size get hit by vehicles.  I would think she would do some damage.  Supposed people are distracted and too concerned to care about what they hit or run over.

Here is a side by side comparison showing a new born versus a much older snapping turtle.  Found in the same area, so perhaps they're related.

All's well that ends well.

Bass Pro Shop Walkabout!

Akin to the "That's Not a Knife" scene from the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee, the Frye's were on our own walkabout among the cranberry bogs at the Bass Pro Shop in Foxboro when we were captivated by this huge snapping turtle -

However, this other snapper swam onto the scene and dwarfed our "huge" turtle - 

Hence, that's not a turtle, THIS is a turtle!!

Turtle Release Day!

 

Emilie and I released our two snapping turtles into a nice, secluded pond that is set back a good distance from the roadway.  Hopefully these dudes will have learned their lesson and steer clean of the street.  They might not be so luck the next time.

 

The smaller one we've had for two years and kept him indoors all last winter.  The larger one I saved from surely being road kill on Rt.109 back in the Spring.  As far as turtles goes they were fun to watch when being feed.  They didn't waste too much time when food was dropped into their tank.  Although, we caught many an insect, which they eagerly devoured they took a particular liking to shrimp.  Of course that sealed their fate and quickened their release.  After all, if anyone around here is going to be dining on shrimp it's going to be ME!!

Cuff and Link

Stopped and saved a snapping turtle last week that was attempting to cross a busy street, Rt.109.  In terms of the sizes these that turtles can get, this one was small.  About the size of a softball.  He joins our other tiny snapper that we've had close to a year now and wintered over inside our house.  Broke out the kiddie pool, so these dudes have plenty of water and space to move around.

The pollen has been terrible these last couple of weeks, which is what's covering the new turtles head and shell, it's everywhere!

Trixie dog was curious what these two creatures were and wasted not time in introducing herself.  I tried to explain to her that she's sniffing the wrong end and is really gonna be sorely sorry...

Road Kill - Averted

So we're driving to my dad's house on Sunday afternoon when we see a Painted Turtle on the edge of the road contemplating a mad dash or as close to a mad dash as a turtle can have to the other side. She was quite large as painted turtles go so I'd guess she was an old timer.

I banged a quick u-turn but got stopped finishing my turn because of a line of traffic. I thought she was a goner a she began to cross. Fortunately the traffic passed and I was able to pull along side her, stopping any other cars from squashing her, and JoAnne jumped out to grab her.

As JoAnne was just about to pick her up when I yelled out to her, "be careful she doesn't pee on you" and let me tell you had I not warned her she (JoAnne) would have gotten wet. After JoAnne thought the peeing stopped she got back in the truck and handed me the turtle and surprise she let loose (the turtle not JoAnne) another piddle, this one inside but luckily on a pile of napkin. I'm thinking this peeing thing is some sort of defensive mechanism, after all who in there right minds would continue to hold onto a peeing turtle...

We drove to a nice pond just a few miles away, one that Emilie could get out of the truck at and help me let the turtle go in. I guess she was happy as she quickly swam away. Emilie was too :-))

Eastern Snapping Turtle (Chelydra Serpentina)

I came across this turtle in the middle of the road the other day. This is a female Eastern Snapping Turtle (Chelydra Serpentina) -

The day before my dad had brought home an Eastern Painted Turtle he found crossing the road. I thought it would be a good learning experience and contrast to bring this girl home too and introduce her to my daughter - she's 4. I also wanted to ensure that this critter didn't become a road kill casualty, as so many do this time of year.

She proved to be a VERY aggressive girl. The following morning we took some pictures then hoped in the truck and took both turtles to a nearby pond, where we released them. Hopefully they're happy and enjoying there new home...

*** Update, June 13, 2006 - I caught another snapping turtle this past weekend. This girl was larger than the one pictured above. She too was attempting to cross the road. I tried to get her turned and headed away from the road but she refused. At that point I decided it best to not chance her attempting to cross after I'd left so I took her with me. We took some pictures of her and this time I measured her shell - 13" front to back and 10" wide, then off to the pond for her release.

The following information was obtained from the Internet -

The Eastern Snapping Turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in Massachusetts. Snapping Turtles are distinctive and ancient-looking turtles that can be as large as 20” and weigh up to 35 pounds, although some individuals are even larger. Males are much larger than females in this species. The carapace of a Snapping Turtle is serrated at its posterior margin and may have keels on the dorsal scutes. The tail is long and “saw–toothed” and the head is large with a hard beak.

The shell is usually dark green to black and is sometimes covered with algae. The skin is usually brown, black or tan. The legs are large and heavily scaled and the feet are webbed with long claws.

The Eastern Snapping Turtle ranges from the eastern United states and southern Canada southward to the Gulf of Mexico and west to the Rocky Mountains and can be found in most permanent or semipermanent bodies of fresh or brackish water, including rivers, streams, pools, bogs, legs, lakes, and marshes. The Eastern Snapping Turtle frequents well-vegetated wetlands with soft muddy banks or bottoms and is almost entirely aquatic.

Snapping Turtles are omnivores, feeding on fish (bullheads, sunfish, perch), aquatic invertebrates, crayfish, live vertebrates, carrion, and plant material. They are highly herbivorous and can be seen “grazing” on cattail roots (Typha) and water lilies (Nymphaea).

The Snapping Turtle reaches sexual maturity between 5 and 7 years of age. They typically lay eggs in soil, lawns, fields, and leaf or twig piles and deposit between 11 and 83 eggs in one or two clutches per year. Snapping Turtle eggs usually hatch after 2+ months of incubation, usually in early September.