Look what hatched out of our woodchip pile..

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

2 Boxturtle babys..

So cute and I wanted to raise them until next year but I sadly have to let them go to fend on their own.. mortality rate is high on these buggers I hope they make it

And the day before while I was mowing this little guy showed up

Aligator Snapping Turtle babe..we have a creek in front of the house..I think I seen the mom lay the eggs in the summer..I am sure there are more in the yard..

[buck1032]

Great pictures!

[TGO David]

Michelangelo and Leonardo!

[Sam1]

Do they just die off or do things eat them? Not sure if I've ever seen anything that eats turtles other than hillbillies.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Do they just die off or do things eat them? Not sure if I've ever seen anything that eats turtles other than hillbillies.

Birds, raccoons, possums and snakes eat turtlebabies.. plus a lot do not make it thru the winter.. only 2 in 50 or so make it to adulthood.. They are not on the endagered species list yet but are being watched..( box turtles that is) ..

I think the aligator snappers are already a protected species here.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Michelangelo and Leonardo!

lol.. didnt even think to name them.. once you name them.. they are staying..

[jtmaze]

Do they just die off or do things eat them? Not sure if I've ever seen anything that eats turtles other than hillbillies.

Never eaten a box turtle. But snappers are good. And no it's not the first time I have been called a hillbilly. Lol. Might even call it a compliment.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[TrickyNicky]

Why'd you have to let them go? Is a legality issue or just a practicality.

I tend to fall in the let nature take it's course mentality but with those two guys I may have taken exception and helped em along for a year or so.

[TGO David]

lol.. didnt even think to name them.. once you name them.. they are staying..

Well, there you go. You have to keep them now.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Why'd you have to let them go? Is a legality issue or just a practicality.

I tend to fall in the let nature take it's course mentality but with those two guys I may have taken exception and helped em along for a year or so.

You cant keep those things since they where hatched in the wild..And they are really hard to raise as hatchlings if you dont know what you are doing.They need a warming light..UVB lights and plenty of fresh bugs and stuff.. a little more than I wanted to invest since i got so many pets as it is .

I would have loved to but just because no one is looking and it being not so legal.. ..ya know?

And now they have passed a stinking law that you cant keep turtles as pets anymore anyway.. cause of Salmonella and stuff..

[Murgatroy]

I had a baby turtle as a pet when I was kid. Kept him for a couple of years before his accident.

Turtles like warm water.

Not hot.

[QuietDan]

I hope the EPA doesn't make your woodchip pile some sort of wetlands protected acreage or something equally stupid.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I had a baby turtle as a pet when I was kid. Kept him for a couple of years before his accident.

Turtles like warm water.

Not hot.

Ohh..lol..I read that a few times before I got it...

[Slpeod]

I hope the EPA doesn't make your woodchip pile some sort of wetlands protected acreage or something equally stupid.

Completely possible in this day and age... probably a whole portion in the CFR on it. Heck with two of them you would probably be subject to annexation of land or maybe they would just annex it then let you lease it from them at a nominal fee that would fund inner city clean-up projects...

[Hiker]

Cool pics! Thank you for sharing.

[Oh Shoot]

Ohh..lol..I read that a few times before I got it...

I had some kind of terrapin I caught fishing as a little kidnick. Kept him outside in a little pen with a shallow basin of water for a couple of years. His demise: water froze over in pan while he was in it. Heartbreak and guilt -- only exceeded by accidental snuffage of a baby possum I was raising twenty ago on the other side of the ridge from you, but that's another story.

Oh, btw, that baby snapper -- almost certainly the Common Snapping Turtle, not the Alligator.

- OS

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I had some kind of terrapin I caught fishing as a little kidnick. Kept him outside in a little pen with a shallow basin of water for a couple of years. His demise: water froze over in pan while he was in it. Heartbreak and guilt -- only exceeded by accidental snuffage of a baby possum I was raising twenty ago on the other side of the ridge from you, but that's another story.

Oh, btw, that baby snapper -- almost certainly the Common Snapping Turtle, not the Alligator.

- OS

Gordon said it was a alligator.. I looked at pics and I cant tell the difference .. they do look different once they are grown.As babys I cant tell really.. either way , he was a cute little dude...

I seen a snapper in our driveway sitting in a puddle a few months back..was a little bigger than a regular plate... She was just a reg. snapper. So.. maybe that was the female laying these eggs...I have to look and see where she layed these eggs. From reading they lay them in dirt and the baby was still covered in it.

Also seen a bout 7 snakes yesterday while mowing the hill.. all garter snakes and one baby black snake. I am glad to see a bunch of them around again.. For years there where none to be seen here.

[Oh Shoot]

...I seen a snapper in our driveway sitting in a puddle a few months back..was a little bigger than a regular plate...

Yeah, it's amazing how large they can get just living in the small creeks out there. I used to stop and get them off roads in that whole three county area, some had to go 35 lbs, maybe more.

Most amazing place I've seen one was right here on the greenway less than a year ago, right here in the urb between shopping center, Sutherland, and railroad tracks behind backyards on Kingston Pike. Was in a wet weather only part of creek that you can probably develop film in, and had to be at least 20 lbs. Blew my mind.

- OS

Edited September 23, 2012 by OhShoot

[enfield]

We raised a Midwestern Painted Turtle for several years. We found her as a hatchling in Michigan and her name was Josefina. Odd how you can get attached to a turtle, but it happens.

[Dolomite_supafly]

We raised a Midwestern Painted Turtle for several years. We found her as a hatchling in Michigan and her name was Josefina. Odd how you can get attached to a turtle, but it happens.

Just a sign of being a caring and compassionate person.

Dolomite

Edited September 24, 2012 by Dolomite_supafly

[peejman]

I had a box turtle as an unofficial pet when I was a kid. Found him in the back yard (big-ish wooded area behind our house) and named him Henry. Fed him veggie table scraps, crickets, and worms. He hung around the whole summer but disappeared for the winter. I found him again the next spring and decided to paint an "H" on his shell to make sure it really was the same turtle. Again, he hung around through the summer and disappeared in the winter. Didn't come back the next spring. A few years later, I found his shell while playing in the woods.

[monkeylizard]

Box turtles hibernate in winter. That's why he would disappear for a while. I had a beautiful bright yellow female box turtle that lived around my old house. I named her "Flash". She scared the crap out of me the first time I saw her. I was watering the lawn and it was after sunset. A tree's shadow made it very dark in the front lawn. I went out to move the sprinkler and as I was reaching down for it I triggered my motion light. There she was about 6 inches from my hand. I don't know what I thought it was, but "easy going box turtle" wasn't it. I'm sure she was looking for water. This was 2007 or 2008 when we had a bad dry summer in Nashville. I kept a shallow plate of water out for her all summer. I rarely saw her once we started getting more rain. I guess my house was her bug out location when things got bad in the woods.

I found out that she liked blueberries...a lot.

[DaveS]

2 Boxturtle babys..

So cute and I wanted to raise them until next year but I sadly have to let them go to fend on their own.. mortality rate is high on these buggers I hope they make it

And the day before while I was mowing this little guy showed up

Aligator Snapping Turtle babe..we have a creek in front of the house..I think I seen the mom lay the eggs in the summer..I am sure there are more in the yard..

Alligator snappers are an endangered species. TWRA ask that sightings of alligator snappers be reported. Protect them....you have something going!

Dave S

[enfield]

. . . . I found out that she liked blueberries...a lot.

Ours liked feeder goldfish - a lot. I used to buy catfish fillets and cut them into strips for her. Strips were safer than chunks - she bit me a few times going after food.

[mj12]

Awesome!

I spotted this moth on my back porch May 2011:

and this little guy in June (looks like it had recently shed it's skin)

Edited September 25, 2012 by mj12