Snapping Turtle Laying Eggs in Ant Hill Again

It has been just over a year since I witnessed a Common Snapping Turtle laying eggs in an ant hill constructed Allegheny Mound Ants.  That was the first time I had seen an ant hill chosen as a nest site for turtle eggs.  Now the turtle is back and repeating last year’s performance. 

The female Snapping Turtle has chosen an ant hill about 50 feet from the one used last year.  This is a smaller mound, so the damage appears more extensive than what I witnessed before.  She seems to have taken off a significant portion of the mound top before feeling comfortable in digging out the egg chamber.

The ants are naturally disturbed by her intrusion and are trying their best to defend their home.  The turtle’s eye is probably the only place sensitive enough to be bothered by an ant’s bite.  Sight is not needed for the turtle’s egg laying activity, so the eyes can be kept closed to keep the ants at bay.

On the other side of her head, the ants are all busy futilely attaching the thick neck skin, so the turtle keeps that eye open.  She gave no indication that she noticed my presence.

The ants quickly abandon attacking parts of the turtle that do not move.  The turtle’s hind legs are targets of constant ant attack because they are continually moving to push the eggs into the nest chamber.

The turtle finished laying her clutch soon after I arrived.  I left when she began covering the freshly layed eggs.  I kept a watch on last year’s nest in hopes of seeing the emergence of young turtles, but I missed seeing that event.  I can attest that there was no evidence that egg eating predators bothered the nest.  Maybe the ants provide protection to the developing turtles.

This is the condition in which I find most Snapping Turtle nests.  I found the remains of this nest just hours after witnessing the placement of the ant hill clutch.  Maybe ant hills are the best place for turtle eggs.

Click HERE to read about last year’s turtle eggs in an ant hill.  Click HERE to view a video of last year’s egg laying event.

Snapping Turtle Laying Eggs

A big turtle on a big ant hill is a pretty easy thing to see from a distance.  I didn’t even question my first glance identification of this object.  I just headed over to take a closer look.

Still sporting a coat of wet mud from the pond bottom, this female Common Snapping Turtle is in the process of excavating a cavity in which to deposit a load of eggs.  The process begins with a release of urine that both softens the soil and allows the hole to be dug without the sides caving in.

The turtle uses her hind legs to dig the hole, arrange the eggs, and cover her clutch.  She never sees what’s going on and does everything by touch.  The hole is dug to the extent of the turtle’s reach.  Larger turtles lay more eggs, but they also have a longer reach and excavate a larger hole.  This turtle measures about 13 inches from front of shell to rear. 

Once the underground cavity is completed, the turtle begins to lay eggs.  Eggs were dropped at a rate of one or two per minute until a total of about 30 eggs was reached.

After each egg was dropped, the turtle used her leg to sweep the area where the egg fell to make sure it made it into the hole.  Next she reached her leg down and pushed the latest deposit further into the cavity.

When the last egg was put into place, the turtle began stretching her hind legs far out and raking in loose soil with which to refill the hole.  Each scoop was carefully packed down until the soil in the hole was brought up to the level of the surrounding ground.

The ants had various responses to the disturbance caused by the turtle.  Some hurried to defend their nest.  Others collected water from the turtle’s body.  Ants biting around the turtle’s eyes caused her to give an occasional snap that had no impact on the activities of the ants.

Once the hole was filled, the turtle began moving up the mound.  As she climbed, she used all four legs to tear up soil and push it back in the direction of her eggs.  When she had finished, it was impossible to identify the exact site of her nest cavity.

The last bit of covering activity put the ants back into defensive mode and they swarmed the turtle.  I don’t think the turtle’s eyes were open for more than a few seconds the entire time she was on the ant mound.

No, she’s not dead.  This turtle has spent most of her life in a pond where her bulk is supported by water.  The effort to leave the water, construct a nest, lay eggs, and return to the pond requires a great expenditure of energy on her part.  Throughout the entire process, she would periodically go limp and rest a few seconds before continuing her work. 

During rest periods, the ants would calm down and go back to their water collecting activities.  May has been an extremely dry month at Blue Jay Barrens and the ants are taking advantage of every opportunity to collect fresh water.

After an extended nap atop the mound, the turtle revived and turned to face her home pond.

Off she goes, shedding ants with every step.  I just wonder how the eggs will fare in their ant protected incubator.

I’ve included a short video of some eggs being added to the nest.  A more complete video can be viewed on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Snappy

My pet Snapping Turtle has reached the age of two years nine months.  Posts of Snappy as a hatchling and yearling are two of my most often viewed posts.  Baby Snapping Turtle is number one out of 18,215 search terms used by people to reach this blog.  Since there is so much interest in this topic, I thought it appropriate to provide an update on Snappy’s progress.

Snappy has prospered on a diet of prepared turtle pellets supplemented by live food items.  He associates movement with food and investigates any movement inside or outside of his aquarium.  Even though the glass cleaning sponge is too large to swallow, he keeps up with its movement back and forth across the glass.

I’ve never seen a captive snapping turtle that was as constantly active as Snappy.  In those rare instances when he pauses from prowling the tank, his head and eyes are still scanning for any signs of movement.

My plans are to construct an outdoor habitat that will house Snappy year round.  I had planned to have it completed by now, but because of the drought, the ground is too hard for me to dig the pool.  This project will stay on my todo list until we get some rain. 

When startled, Snappy tilts his shell to appear larger in the eyes of a potential threat.  In the wild, snapping turtle shells often develop a coating of algae and other debris.  I periodically clean Snappy’s shell with a soft bristled toothbrush.  Since he operates primarily on instinct, I don’t assume that he will recognize me as non-threatening.  I never allow any part of my fleshy self to get within range of those jaws.

Movement on the water’s surface causes him to adopt his ambush pose.  He ignores floating bubbles, but will come after anything that appears more substantial.

The attack is too rapid for my camera to capture.  Snappy doesn’t miss anything edible.

After eating, Snappy usually scouts around for anything that might have been missed.  He’ll be comfortable in this tank for a while longer, but I’d like to get him outside as soon as possible. 

Snapper Butt

I know of a couple people who are probably sure that I’ve run out of things to talk about. Why else would I be featuring a photo of a snapping turtle’s butt? There is a point to this shot that I’ll get to momentarily, but as a sidelight to the main topic, I have to point out how much this looks like the back end of a dinosaur. I can just imagine the bony plates of a stegosaurus out ahead of that tail. Occasionally, I just have to indulge my childhood passion for dinosaurs.

Turtles wandering through the yard always warrant attention. A snapping turtle on land doesn’t have the maneuverability that it enjoys in the water, so it does what it can to make its position more defensible when confronted with a threat. One strategy used by snappers is the defensive posture.

Defensive posture is a behavior employed by many animals. To scare away a threat, they position their body parts in such as way that they look larger than they are. Extending the hind legs to their fullest, pushes the rear of the shell up so an approaching predator sees a larger image.

This might also direct an attack to the raised portion of the shell and protect the head. I’ve seen monster snappers hold themselves up on all four legs and that image seems enough to scare off even the most determined attacker. A smaller snapper, such as this one, would probably just look like it was offering itself up for sacrifice if it raised its entire body.

When I had finished scaring the snapper, I moved it to a marshy area below the pond dam. Hopefully it’ll move on and find some permanent body of water in which to live. If it tried to stay in the pond, it would just find itself without water by August and would have to trek through the summer heat in search of another place to live.

Snapping Turtle

I was out at the pond checking on some Wood Frog eggs I had seen over the weekend. I was looking at the right spot, but what I found didn’t look like frog eggs.

Out of the water, it’s easy to identify a Snapping Turtle. The back of the shell is always camouflaged by algae or some other unsightly mess that allows the turtle to sit inconspicuously on the bottom of a pond or river.

The eyes catch even the slightest movement. The tiny turtle brain has a limited number of programmed responses. If something moves, you bite it. If it happens to be food, you eat it. If it is danger, you scare it away. It’s a one bite fits all occasions situation.

I’ve always thought the Snapping Turtle shell was poorly designed. The upper shell looks much too large to house the snapper head, while the legs can’t even be fully withdrawn. The design has proven itself over millions of years, so I guess it’s this way for a purpose.

The lower shell leaves much unprotected, but the turtle isn’t normally found in this position. Even if something were to attack the lower side, that hide is about as tough as any animal produces.

I’m wondering if this is responsible for the sudden absence of Wood Frog eggs. Could that be a frog egg stain in the turtle’s mouth? I’ve seen Raccoons pull frog eggs onto the bank and consume them, but they usually leave a jelly mess behind. I don’t think those eggs ever left the water.

Jaws and claws are the Snapping Turtle’s dining tools. Anything too large to swallow is ripped apart by the sharp claws and strong front legs.

This is certainly a jolly face. I was trying to keep the camera just outside the turtle’s strike range. Even if he had struck, I’m pretty sure he would have gone for the camera lens and not the fingers to either side.

Baby Snapping Turtle

I found this newly hatched Snapping Turtle in the water garden. Turtle eggs are laid in underground caverns dug by the female turtle. The eggs hatch in the fall, but the young turtles often wait until spring to tunnel their way to the surface. This delayed emergence may be caused by the dry, hard ground commonly encountered in autumn being impenetrable by the young turtle. The frequent rains we’ve had this year have left the soil soft and workable. Once above ground, the turtles take off in search of a suitable habitat in which to live.

One sign of a newly hatched turtle is the egg tooth used to cut through the shell of the egg at hatching. The tooth is that white bump just below the nostrils. The egg tooth will disappear a few weeks after hatching.

Another sign of the hatchling is the unhealed area on the lower shell where the yolk was attached. This area will also quickly disappear. This youngster is a perfect replica of what it will look like 20 pounds from now.

Female Snapping Turtles will travel long distances from water to lay their clutch of eggs. This means that the little hatchlings have a long way to travel before finding a suitable home. I suppose this method helps spread the turtle population over a larger area and reduces the chances that these babies will return to compete with their parent for living space. The nearest permanent water body that would contain Snapping Turtles is 900 feet from the water garden, so between mother and baby, at least that distance had to be traveled.