32 Future Yertles

Warning: This post is exclusively about turtle eggs, so you may want to skip it if that bores you to death. My nephew Cedar just asked me over the phone today if I "could maybe send the turtle eggs in the mail to him for a few days." That I can't do, so I thought that posting this pic instead might make him happy.

We have been working on leveling our backyard, and unknowingly hit this clutch with a shovel last week. Three eggs were sacrificed, so I decided that the best thing to do would be to move them to a safer place until they hatch (mother turtles are DONE with the babies after they have laid the eggs). So I did some research online, created this nest, placed all the eggs in the same direction that I pulled them out in, and check them every few days to see if they are hatching. A snapping turtle had been in our yard a couple months ago while I was home in Oregon, so it can be assumed that these guys are due to hatch between now and the end of the month. Once they are hatched and done digesting their yolks (eww), I will take them out and release them in the swamp behind our house. I don't expect them all to hatch (some were very light compared to others), but will take some pics of the babies before I let them go and post those. Justin asked if we could keep one as a pet (but I think he is joking). We could, but I think that the chance of a monstrous snapping turtle chomp on a dog's nose or person's finger weed out that option.