Searching for a Turtle Nest

A couple of days ago when walking the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades I stumbled upon an amazing site. A mother turtle was crawling up the bank. Of course at first I had no idea what she was up to or even if the turtle was a he or a she.

The turtle progressed steadily and purposefully up the bank. She moved much faster than I had any idea a turtle could crawl. When she got to the highest point the Mother Turtle began to look around. Whe seemed to sniff the air and then she started digging with her back feet.

The area where she was digging had very dense grass growing there so she decided to move on. The mother turtle went a few inches and tried it again.

As I watched I could see the soft part of her body, right under the shell push outward as if she was in labor. I kept hoping that she would succeed in digging a hole and that I would get to see it happen.

I am a member of the 365flowers Club. We are posting new photos of flowers found in our gardens or in our travels throughout the day. As part of the club we are creating magnets from our best shots in order to create a flower garden on our refridgerators. Wouldn't a turtle magnet look lovely as an added accent to the Refrigerator Flower Garden?

As I stood in the pathway watching the mother turtle, I noticed how she periodically scratched at the turf. Her back legs were trying to dig a hole. She would dig or scratch about 5 times and then pause and look around. Each time she paused I could see her strain, the soft flesh of her body would push out in a way that reminded me of when I was in labor pushing to give birth to my children.

Each time the contractions receeded the mother turtle would move a bit further away and try scratching again. The park ranger said it might take her a couple of days to find the right spot.

When I came across this mother turtle she was climbing up the bank and stopped right next to the path. I thought that it was very strange that she chose a place so close to where visitors walk on a daily basis.

The park ranger, however, explained that mother turtles look for a high spot on a bank above the water. As the rainy season progresses, the water level of the Everglades rise and the Mother Turtle is assuring that her babies will not drown.

He also explained that the wildlife along the canal in the Everglades are used to visitors and have come to ignore them. The mother turtle was not disturbed by all the visitors watching and taking pictures of her.

To learn more about fresh water turtles, or terrapins I have included links to three books from Amazon which have wonderful illustrations and detailed information. The first book is especially good for reading aloud to children. The second book has the detailed information to answer most any questions you might have. The third book is a guidebook where you could discover the kind of turtle you may have found.