Hello everyone. Isn’t it interesting as we look at life and see the many wonders around us, some of which we are privy too and some we are not. Well one day a few months back we were privy to one of those wonders. It is not every day one can witness a turtle build a nest, see her lay eggs and then see those babies head off only to repeat the cycle again and again. We were blessed to experience one of those days and record it.
It was the evening of June 2, 2016 and we were walking Emma on her long leash through the neighborhood for her evening outing when we noticed her starting to sniff at what appeared to be a large stone. This was of no surprise because as you know dogs sniff anything and everything as if it were some tender morsel of food dropped from the sky. As we looked closer however we noticed this large stone was moving ever so slowly. Quickly we pulled back her leash realizing this rock like thing was a very large snapping turtle digging in the dirt. What on earth was she doing away from the creek that was just beyond the way. As we watched it became clear she was digging a hole to lay eggs. What an incredible moment. We quickly rushed Emma home, grabbed the camera gear, invited a neighbor or two and returned to the site to try and record this magnificent event. Now, for those of you wondering what’s up with the ear of corn we really don’t know the answer. We think someone wondering by earlier thought maybe momma turtle might be hungry after giving birth, lol. Does anyone else have a possible explanation?
At any rate it was not 30 minutes after we got back, the turtle had finished digging the nest and slowly, painstakingly began to birth a series of ping pong ball sized eggs. As each egg left the birth canal momma turtle would carefully catch it with one of her back feet, lower it in the hole and gently position it amongst the others before releasing another. Over and over and over she repeated this process, at least 18 or more times. Intermittingly as each egg was released she would glance over at us as if to acknowledge we were being given special audience to this miracle of the animal kingdom.
When she had finished laying all her eggs she immediately began meticulously covering the hole using her back legs as a shovel and a plow. After every few scoops of dirt placed over the eggs she would stand and tamp it down with her 20-pound body until it was smooth and the hole almost unnoticeable. When she was all finished, she walked a complete circle around the nest as if to survey and admire her work. She then seemed to look at each of us watching in awe before she began walking back toward the path leading to the pond from which she had come. We all sat there entranced by this huge miracle we were witnessing in our community.
On September 6th, 2016 as we were traveling through Michigan we received a telephone call and, upon answering, a voice filled with excitement began exclaiming, “the turtles are hatching, the turtles are hatching, it’s so amazing”. It was our neighbor friend Cassie from back home who was with us the night the eggs were being laid. Cassie had been carefully watching over the nest daily to ensure no predators would disturb it. There was such a hush in our car as we listened to Cassie describe how the little turtles were climbing their way out of their earthen cradle and scurrying toward the trail heading back to the creek which their mother had traveled just 97 days prior. When the call ended, there was an interesting silence in the car as we drove both of us reflecting on that special day the momma laid her eggs and the new friendships formed between those of us witnessing the event.
If you would like to learn more on this topic just click here on the “Turtle Rescue League” for some terrific information we found which puts this amazing event into perspective – “you are witnessing an act that has been taking place for over 200 million years.”
You can also click on this link “The Turtle Gives Birth” to see our September post before we compiled the new video.
You are most welcome.
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Oh, that’s nice to say! Thanks!
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You are welcome. We enjoy your openness.
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Amazing! Thanks for sharing the miracle of birth with us!!
Thanks so much for the follow!
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🙂
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It really was amazing. Yes, you were very lucky.
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Thank you Miriam. Wasn’t that the coolest!!!! Momma turtles head kept watch on all of us as she birthed her babies. So glad we could video it and share with the world.
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Wow, what an absolutely amazing experience to witness. A true miracle of nature. Thanks for sharing your words and the video with us. I loved this.
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Shivangi thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. Yes, this was an incredible moment and we are so glad you have become part of it.
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WOW what a great experience it would have been for you people.Moreover you have expressed it so well that anyone after reading this will wish to witness this event.Thanks for sharing!:-)
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Awesome experience.
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It must have been great to witness this! I could imagine all that.
I have seen Olive Ridley turtle babies, hundreds of them, coming out of sand, heading to waters.. 😀 😀
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Emma says woof to Mandy.
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Not so brave, but I don’t like it when they see I’m scared 😉 Yes, it was me, I take the snake over from my son, he loves them, strange boy. And Mandy says hi to Emma.
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Yes the birds love em. “Turtle Tenders” 😦 And they can be a force when they grow up. When they bite they don’t release and that can be a problem when swimming.
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They are so tiny when they first hatch I can see how they’d be easy pickings. And then they grow up… 😳
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Glad you enjoyed this. It was for sure an exciting moment. Felt like Marlin Perkins from “Wild Kingdom”, lol.
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Love this story. I think I will go spend the remainder of my Sunday watching Earth 🙂
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Wasn’t this so neat Gabe. What an exciting moment. What a good momma she was.
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What a cool moment to take part in, and to get the chance to record it as well. Awesome! And I’m glad to hear that the babies made it through gestation.
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EEK, you are brave Ann to hold the spiders and the snake. Now holding doggies is our idea of joy. We loved the link and was that you holding the snake? Wow you are sooo brave. Love the puppies. So many animals in your daughters zoo. Emma says hi to Mandy.
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After hold a big spider in my hand, never I’m afraid for spiders again 😉 Also I hold a snake in my hands, but that was scary. lol. Im really grateful, but the most of the time alone with my doggie, have a nice sunday Tom and Audrey.
https://annpostma.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/slangen-in-exloo-yorkshire-pups-in-alkmaar-en-lente-in-buitenpost/
The name of my doggie is Mandy, the link is old, lol.
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They are amazing aren’t they. They are so gentle in their birthing process. From our research the mortality rate is pretty high.
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Awesome! We are so glad you enjoyed it. Wasn’t it incredible to see.
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We aren’t big fans of snakes and spiders but they are interesting to see from afar, lol. Your granddaughter is precious. You have so many blessings to be thankful for.
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Glad you liked it Pat.
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Thank you Theresa. Wasn’t that something to stumble upon. We have spent many years growing up in and traveling through country settings and never personally witnessed such an occurrence. The even greatest blessing was to be able to record it for all to see. It makes us happy to know you found it pleasing.
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You guys are completely charmed! You must have some magic in discovering and recording amazing events! Thank you for sharing.
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very cool!!
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There are also snakes and big spiders, it is nice to be there, but I can not so many times to an other province, the photo from de girl with the walking leave is my granddaughter. She is living in Groningen an other province in the North, it’s a mess in the family LOL
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The video was absolutely amazing, thanks so much for sharing!
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That is so cool. Every so often, I’ll find a bunch of freshly hatched snapping turtles wandering in the middle of a field heading away from a small creek nearby. I don’t know if I should but I pick up as many as I can and walk them to the water. Love turtles.
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Thank you so much Ann for your kind words. We (Emma too) were so blessed to have come upon this miracle unfolding and then to be able to record for all to see was an even greater blessing. This is interesting that there are no turtles in the Netherlands. It has got to be exciting having your daughter owning a zoo. We would be there all the time. We love going to zoos and seeing animals that one often can’t see in our travels in the wilds. We followed the link you gave to the post on the zoo and loved reading about the animals. An armadillo that rolls into a ball… how cool is that!!!!! It carries its house every where it goes… kinda like us with our travel van, lol.
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Yes, wasn’t it awesome to watch and it was even awesomer, lol to be there in person to record for all to witness.
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That is such an amazing thing to have watched. You are very fortunate to have been a part of it.
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WOW, It is so great to see this, Audrey, the vidio is great, what a big surprise for all of you. No turtles in the wild in the Netherlands and I love them. My daughter in law owns a little Zoo (Zoo Bizar) in Drenthe with a lot of small animals, and overhere I’m glad to see a hedgehog 😉 Thank you for sharing this little wonder. And ofcorse my compliment for Emma, she find the turtle. An old blog from 2012 for both of you. Warm greetings.
https://annpostma.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/zoo-bizar-ii-gordeldieren-slakkenskink-stinkdier-en-meer-wetenswaardigheden-14-september-2012/
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We sure do hear you. Now we can all observe and report our interactions with the world around us. Your words are always so filled with encouragement, Thank you!!!!
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Lovely! We’re so lucky to live in a time with affordable technology. I used to envy the naturalists who could afford long trips and share the sights and sounds of nature. Now we are able to see these wonders in our own backyard and document them for others. Thanks so much!
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LOL!!! Isn’t this the truth. Its amazing what we see when we are keeping our heads up and our minds open.
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Rarely do people notice things like that, to busy staring at their phones!
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Awesome Camie. It surely is a great way to show the birth process.
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I showed the video to my son and he thought it was cool.
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Thank you so much. It was great you stopped by and let us know you liked it. What an experience it was for us and so glad we were able to capture for all to see the miracles of nature.
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It certainly was incomparable wasn’t it. To encounter something like this is rare and on top of it have the ability to personally record it. We were certainly blessed for sure.
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Thanks Karen for stopping by. It was so neat to see and be able to record it.
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Thank you Karen.
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Baffled us also that she would chose a spot where people walk by all the time. From our research once momma lays the eggs she never returns to the nest. I guess its one of the God questions “does mom recognize her babies when they swim by each other latter on”, lol. We didn’t get the video of the babies crawling out of the nest or back toward the pond. This link “https://usathroughoureyes.com/2016/09/13/snapping-turtle-laying-eggs/” shows the babies. So glad you stopped by to check this out and let us know your feelings. Kind of once in a life time experience.
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Thank you Camie. Wasn’t that awesome. We were so amazed and blessed at being privy to seeing such process. What a momma she was. So glad you stopped by and made the time to comment.
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Great video, Audrey! That would’ve been so fascinating to witness and right in your neighborhood! Thanks so much for sharing.
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Remarkable video. Interesting that she chose such an open spot, and fornatunate for you that it was so accessible. So…she is finished once the eggs are laid??? Any photos or video of the turtletts crawling out of the ground??? Nice work. Thanks. M 🙂
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🐢
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😍😇
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Nature is incomparable and its creatures even more so. That must have been quite a remarkable experience x
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I applaud your appreciation of nature and its wondrous array of beauty.
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