r/gardening • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
This turtle comes back to my mother in law's garden every year to lay her eggs.
[removed]
276
u/GogDog 1d ago
Is that a snapper?
166
u/littlefishsticks 1d ago
Yep, the tail gives it away
242
u/MisterProfGuy 1d ago edited 1d ago
And you can tell because its neck and face look like evil but a little bit cute.
43
70
u/GogDog 1d ago
I can’t believe we used to catch those as kids. I feel lucky I still have my fingers. 😅
9
5
u/AwareAge1062 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was maybe 8 or 9, wading in a lake, tripped over something, and decided to pull it up and see what it was... as soon as the edge of the shell came into view I dropped it and ran in full panic as well as one can out of waist-deep water lmfao yes it is crazy you caught them on purpose 🤣
11
1
u/Reasonable-Boat-8555 1d ago
I got bit by one once it was awful. I was lucky that it didn’t do more damage than just latch on to my finger and not let go bc it was a little guy. Worst pain ever.
1
u/AwareAge1062 1d ago
But these days I frequently escort these guys across roads. The feisty ones will stand up like a cat arching its back, they look absolutely prehistoric
11
u/biffNicholson 1d ago
And the disturbingly long neck. It’s a lesson to never get your hands anywhere remotely close to that things head.
5
7
1
u/Godzilla_ 1d ago
Long ass neck too
2
u/SweetKittyToo 1d ago
They can reach around and snap your finger off if you have them by the tail too!
10
u/HatefulHagrid 1d ago
Definitely a snapper, they're well known for being particular in this way for nesting. They'll travel many miles to come back to the same nesting ground each year, oftentimes near where they themselves were born. I used to work at an industrial facility where I had to take regular samples of water as it returned to the ecosystem after processing at what's called an "outfall". My favorite outfall had a mama snapper that would nest nearby every year at the same time. One time I was kneeling down collecting my samples and I heard a faint hissing kinda noise, I looked over and saw an adorable baby snapper squaring up with me ready to defend his honor 🤣
5
u/YaBoiMandatoryToms 1d ago
Found one of those in my family pool when we lived in southern maryland. I tried feeding it a cracker(i was 5) and it nearly bit my thumb off, still struck but defensively.
2
805
u/odkfn 1d ago
112
u/Jo_The_Weeb 1d ago
When I hear neighbors arguing, I immediately get the urge to sweep every leaf in my yard
47
u/karlmarxsanalbeads 1d ago
I’m hand cleaning each leaf first
22
u/LectroRoot 1d ago
I'm on my knees pulling up individual weeds. Very slowly.
Trying to look busy but I'm basically on my knees listening while on kneeling in my prestine yard.
13
u/Mcjackee 1d ago
My husband and I 100% post up by an open window when neighbors are going nuts. I feel better because the few times we’ve yelled (at the kids or each other), I assume people are also listening in 😂
23
13
2
136
u/Delicious_Basil_919 1d ago
I love her what a treasure
51
u/OblongGoblong 1d ago
Yeah they should build her a lil ramp
23
4
u/Waschmaschine_Larm 1d ago
Nah, that would likely incite other animals to be more likely to visit the space
9
u/Inside_Out_Sphincter 1d ago
What animals is a 10 inch high wall preventing when even a turtle can get up it?
2
u/tacosareforlovers 1d ago
C’mon now. Let’s not bring logic into it.
1
u/Waschmaschine_Larm 1d ago
Are you implying that there is no logic to suggesting not to add a ramp for a turtle which can clearly, as proven by the OP, already climb up that wall?
1
u/Waschmaschine_Larm 1d ago
None! You can clearly see how it would be easier for the turtle to climb the receeding wall with a ramp. As far as the garden being made more easily accessed-if it's made easier for the turtle, it's also made easier for every critter. Even if those other critters have an already easier time accessing the garden than the turtle!
Basically, if you view it macroscopically, a ramp would make foot traffic of animals of all types more likely by making it easier. This extra foot traffic is something which has potential of making it more likely for the turtle mother's eggs to be disturbed, even if it's not actually certain to happen and even if the barrier without a ramp wouldn't stop anything already.
The snapper turtle already can clearly climb the wall itself and found that location acceptable. You don't need to interfere with that.
4
u/Plop_Twist 1d ago
Glue an RFID tag to her and rig up a smart cat door on the ramp. Name her Fluffy.
1
u/Waschmaschine_Larm 1d ago
Oh, did i upset you or something
2
u/Plop_Twist 1d ago
lol what? no. I was saying agreeing with your concern. But also saying OP could still use a ramp for this turtle, and keep other animals from using it by rigging up an RFID tag and a smart cat door.
55
118
u/odkfn 1d ago
This has mad meme potential of a nosey neighbour
30
u/fifteenandapairfor4 1d ago
Karol is just checking in with you. She really just has the best interests of the neighborhood in mind.
18
u/ParfaitGlittering 1d ago
Karol with a k js cool, unlike Carol with a c she's on the HOA board
10
u/fifteenandapairfor4 1d ago
Im so sorry but there has to be a cardinal in this neighborhood that is an absolute Hoe of an HOA president.
2
3
u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad 1d ago
Ugh...my sister in law is a Carole and is insufferable should you forget it. It's even worse with my brother defending her behavior.
Do you realize how many Sara/ha and Ally/I/ysons I have in my life‽
I don't need this pressure.
2
6
u/odkfn 1d ago
You went a lot more wholesome with that than I was expecting - shame on… you…? Me…?
14
u/fifteenandapairfor4 1d ago
I used to work at a library, you develop a knack for creating G rated content after a couple story times and it’s hard to shake.
5
4
26
u/LowRing8538 1d ago
Where do the babies go when they hatch?
57
u/MaxillaryOvipositor 1d ago
I found a painted turtle digging a nest in my dirt driveway one year and was rather shocked because it is by no means near a body of water. I did some reading and learned they'll travel as far as five miles to find a suitable substrate to lay their eggs. She was real stubborn, too. I relocated her to a small creek a mile away no less than four times and she came back each time.
19
u/psilome 1d ago
They are aquatic turtles. There is probably a body of water nearby where mom came from. They can go a long way over land, but instinctively they will seek out water.
11
u/LowRing8538 1d ago
Wow that's amazing, how do you reckon they find it? Like imagine being born in a garden and having to find the nearest body of water. Do they have smell, hearing? Or sense the humidity in the ground? Probaly a question for google but wow. Cool creatures
5
u/Yoda2000675 1d ago
From what I've personally seen, the hatched babies instinctively travel downhill; but that might not be universal
28
u/rine_trouble 1d ago
That’s pretty cool. More than likely her lineage goes back to that exact spot for generations.
6
66
u/WoodpeckerAbject8369 1d ago
She and/or her ancestors were laying their eggs there way before it was “developed.”
23
u/kevin-dom-daddy 1d ago
How beautiful that is. I love animals of all kinds.
18
u/mmmmmmort 1d ago
Right? I’d feel so special that whatever garden I cultivated another animal felt was nice and safe enough to be vulnerable and lay eggs/give birth
21
u/Mean_Cycle_5062 1d ago
I got to see a snapping turtle lay eggs once, it was amazing. She was just finishing digging the hole, which was about the size of a softball I'm guessing. It seems like she had done most of the digging with only her back legs. She then laid a bunch of eggs in the hole. I stayed for a little bit but left so I wouldn't stress her out. When I came back you couldn't even tell that the ground had been disturbed.
12
11
11
7
u/buffalo_Fart 1d ago
Here I thought you were going to have like a little cute painted box turtle or a red ear slider but no instead you have Darth Vader of the turtle world that decided to make your backyard home.
2
u/CormoranNeoTropical 1d ago
No that’s the Giant Snapping Turtle. This is just a regular snapping turtle.
6
u/WittyKittyBoom 1d ago
I always forget the name of the plant with the purple flowers, my mom has some, help me out?
7
u/sunberrygeri 1d ago
Hardy geranium?
6
u/OaksInSnow 1d ago
That's it. "Geranium sanguineum," or at least it used to be that. "They" change the names around a lot.
3
3
5
5
5
u/Agreeable_Day_7547 1d ago
Thank you for sharing this! I grew up in the Deep South w beautiful long springs & falls & very short winters. We got stuck in the NE w job specialties and this time a year I get really homesick for the weather. We cannot safely plant until Mother’s Day! The 5-6 times I tried to cheat and plant giant sunflowers early, we get a late freeze or a blizzard inApril or May. This was exactly what I needed today. :)
4
u/Chuckles_E 1d ago
And she'll use that same spot for as long as she lives. Which could be another 60-70 years. They're max age can be around 100 and they take 20 years or so to reach sexual maturity.
5
u/powderpants29 1d ago
What a joy it would be to have your garden considered the safest place for her to lay her babies year after year.
8
u/DrewsWoodWeldWorks 1d ago
0
u/No_Pianist_3006 1d ago
I don't mind. It's a great photo and a sweet story.
It brings back memories and informs new people.
4
5
u/ABoxOfNails 1d ago
What happens to the eggs? Is there evidence they hatch and do you see the babies making it back to water?
3
u/SpaceCampDropOut 1d ago
What flowers are those?
2
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/spacegrassorcery 1d ago
Hey OP! Do you know the exact geranium that you have?
Also, so selfish of me-of course the cute snapper caught my eye first. What a cutie!
2
2
2
2
2
u/FeralSweater 1d ago
I love this so much!
When I worked in rural central NY, I used to keep a beat-up tennis racquet in my car to scootch turtles out of the road. The snapping turtles liked the gravel on the sides of the road, but they were worryingly slow crossing.
There was no way on earth that I was going to pick these animals up with my hands.
1
1
1
1
u/desertdweller2011 1d ago
there’s this one mary oliver essay where she talks about watching a snapping turtle lay her eggs - like fleshy tubes - and when she ate them she described it as egg with a little corn meal mixed in. i’d be so tempted to try a few if i knew she was coming back every year !
1
-6
-9
•
u/gardening-ModTeam 1d ago
This submission has been removed by the moderators because this is a repost submitted by a spam bot. Repost spam is strictly prohibited in this subreddit and it always results in post removal and issued bans.
Please report any more reposts in the future and we'll take a look. Thank you for your cooperation.