Eastern Musk Turtle Mom?

Here's another Eastern Musk Turtle, and another turtle I believe was looking for a place to lay eggs last May. I was looking down from a bridge and saw a turtle decisively climb out of the water. I scurried down to where the turtle was, and instead of jumping back in the water (which I would suspect if the purpose was to bask in the sun) the turtle seemed to be immersing itself in the vegetation.

This turtle lays eggs in a shallow burrow or "shoreline debris". I'm thinking this one was in the process of finding suitable debris.

The Eastern Musk Turtle is a relatively small turtle that lays 2-9 eggs. These eggs hatch after 100-150 days, so (assuming eggs were laid) hatching should occur between September 5 and October 25. (October doesn't give them much time to forage before winter brumation, so maybe the earlier hatching is more likely in New Jersey.)

May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 133213809, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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