So up here in the north country we have to put up with temperature extremes, winds off the prairies, too cold, too hot, too many deer, raccoons, bears and bugs. Well, now we can add snapping turtles to the list!! It seems about this time of year the little darlings like to lay eggs - and yes, you guessed it - they really love soft gardens! A few years ago I had one tear up my corn patch. Last year one tore up my carrots. This year, one tore up my popcorn. The popcorn wasn't doing very well anyway, so tonight I thought I would put cukes in the place where the popcorn never came up. I get ready with seeds, gloves, equipment, etc. and I find this:
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| A huge snapping turtle about 13 inches in diameter laying eggs and digging up the garden. |
As you can see from the photo, they make quite a hole, and tear things up pretty good. After I took this photo, I checked the other garden, and sure enough, there was another one heading for the other garden:
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| This snapping turtle was a little smaller, maybe 11 inches in diameter. I managed to scare her off before she dug up my larger garden. |
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| One of my tomcats is not sure what to make of this thing! Snapping turtles can be quite mean and give a nasty bite. I sure didn't want my cat to get bit. |
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Of course after I worried about my white tomcat, here came more of the farm cat crew!
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| Turtle watching is great fun if you are a cat! |
Needless to say I never got my cucumbers planted tonight. And I have news for that turtle mama - those eggs will be tilled up tomorrow. These turtle mothers lay dozens of eggs, and then walk away, never to return to the young.
1 comment:
How about making some snapping turtle stew for Harold? Turtle is good tasting. We used to capture and save any snappers we found around our place when we lived on the lake. Gave them to a local warden. Good stuff Maynard.
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