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Posted by Wolverton on April 14, 2003 at 02:33:50:
In Reply to: Re: Observation is the key............. posted by Chrysemys on April 13, 2003 at 17:33:11:
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Jeese, I wish I could be a bigger help, but I just dont know much about the turtles in your area. I do know that these patterns are often specific to the particular make and model, and to specific environmental adaptions. Unfortunately, this info is often not readily available.
Up here in the northwest, I have actually stumbled on a clutch of three western painted turtles hatching. It was on the southern[sunlit] end of a small pond. The entire of the north end was wooded, while the southern was not. This is a place I had been to many times, and I noticed that all of the reptile activity took place on this exposed end. They were about 8 feet above the high water mark, and about 10 feet from the waters edge. It took them about 2 hours to find the water. There is also a protection program going on for western pond turtles here, and this includes placing anti-preditor caging on the nests. In these sites the particular end of the pond seems to make less of a difference. They are much higher above the water mark, more like 20-30 feet, and perhaps 20 yards from the edge. These are all steep sided ponds, and the ground is hard and rocky. Its amazing that these little critters can even get the job done.
Other than the caging, or actually seeing them hatch, there was little evidence that the ground had been disturbed in any way. I count those hatchlings as one of the finer memories in many years of herping. Good luck.
The place that I look for them is a near by golf course. They have many painteds and snappers. Would a sand bunker be an ideal plaxce for them to lay? How far from water do they usually travel? Is it in the open or in the woody areas. Thanks
: Chris D.
