We are participating in the witness Snapping Turtle relocation program today.
For the second day ... our resident VERY LARGE Snapping Turtle has been wandering the property and haning out by the house. She is (as every spring) looking for a good spot to lay her eggs. The problem seems to be that she DID lay her eggs last evening (caught in the act by my husband), and this morning early as I let the dog out .... WHAM! There she was AGAIN, not 10 feet from the deck stairs.
Now, you can imagine how inquisitive my adolescent dog is ... and I had to screech "BRANDY"!! to get her to stop two feet away from this slow but dangerous momma.
We must now entertain the thought that there may be MORE THAN ONE female snapper ... as this one was also searching for a nesting spot, and did look larger than yesterdays visitor.
So Birding Dad did the evil deed this morning ... he caught her, and took her with him on his ride to work. Along the way, he found an uninhabited swampy area, with several bodies of water ... and sent her on her way.
The dog is my immediate concern, as she IS inquisitive and has to stick her nose into everything new and interesting in the yard. The other thought that struck me like a brick this morning, was that Birding Girl and Birding Dog spent 20 minutes playing in the creek on Sunday! I am suddenly not so sure of that particular brand of summer fun!
We will have to keep watching to see if we sight the cousin of this lady. Most of the summer we will catch sight of a snapper making it's was from the creek to the pond daily. The new fence should keep the dog out of this trail, and we don't ever go into the pond ... but just maybe, if there is another, she will have to become part of the relocation program too.
I love living in the country and I love our wildlife. For years we have left these animals undisturbed, but I can not risk the dog, or child, or visiting children when a humane option is available.
Posted by sunybank at June 7, 2005 01:02 PM
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