The turtles are a bit late laying their eggs this year but those that waited may have more successful nests than those that answered nature's call and laid eggs during the horrid cold, wet weather. Turtle eggs can rot and attract parasites, especially in the damp....
I saw several painted turtles last week while they were laying eggs. Painted turtles are very common on Cape Cod and can be found in almost every pond and bog in every town. All turtles lay their eggs on land, whether they are sea turtles, pond turtles or land turtles like box turtles. Usually they lay their eggs in June but this has been an unusual year here.
This lovely lady was none too pleased about being picked up. She was done laying her eggs and heading back to the pond she came from. Even if you don't see them laying eggs female turtles generally have short tails, long claws on their back feet for digging and a flat bottom. The males have longer tails and have a concave spot on the bottom, both of which are handy for mating.
This is a different female across the Cape but similarly occupied on the same day. She is filling up the hole she has deposited her eggs in and was more or less oblivious to me as I took her picture. I didn't touch her or pick her up and left very quickly after taking these shots so I didn't interrupt her.
This is another shot of her pushing that dirt back in the hole.
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