Apalone ferox 2

"It's Hard Being Soft"

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I put this page together because of events today that illustrated how unlikely it seems that a turtle  makes it from egg to adult. Softshells, without the protection most turtles have, seem even more vulnerable.

  The little "guy" below hatched two days ago, and most of "his" siblings hatched today. These eggs are the remainder of a clutch that was raided by raccoons a few weeks ago. I haven't known raccoons to partially raid a nest, they must have been spooked. One morning I found eggshells, whole eggs, and raccoon prints on the surface with these few eggs still in the nest.

Two of today's hatchlings. They will be released when the remainder of the clutch has hatched.

Not the nest mentioned above. This is a freshly raided Softshell nest. Storms heralding the arrival of Hurricane Dennis have washed it in. You can see some eggshells in the lower left of the picture.

I was putting the "Golden Greeks" away because of the weather when I noticed this girl nesting. The picture is blurry because of the distance (so not to disturb) and the rain, but I recognized her immediately. The damage to her shell was evident from a distance and is shown close up below. She was here 15 days ago on a sunny 95 degree day and attempted to nest within 50 feet from where she is now (FYI 100+ yards from water). She started and abandoned two nests without laying and returned to the lake. This time she went all the way.

Here is a close up of the carapace, the plastron appears undamaged.

You can see where there was blunt trauma to the left and right of the carapace and what looks to be a bite wound to the rear of the shell.

I would guess Alligator as the cause. There is one complete penetration, below it a partial puncture and a tear.

While she was nesting I noticed crows gathering in the tops of the trees around her. The rain was slackening and I thought they might be trying to dry out, but I also had suspicions otherwise. I have heard stories of crows and turtle nests.

The Softshell finished covering her nest and circled it twice before heading back to the lake. She might have been getting her bearings back or might have been distracted by the dozens of crows now in the trees. Two of them were now on the ground and others were landing on nearby sprinkler heads (6' up).

Once the Softshell was a few yards away from the nest the crows moved in and began excavating. Never more than two of them on the ground at a time and usually only one. Diggers switched positions a number of times. A video of a crow removing an egg is at the bottom of the page.

Here is the nest as the crows left it (after encouragement from me). Pretty much a straight shot into the nest. This was dug entirely with their beaks. It didn't appear that they were picking dirt up in their beak, but instead used the beak to flick dirt out sideways, repositioning occasionally to make a rounded hole.

Also within minutes of the female nesting Fire Ants Solenopsis invicta were present.

Two eggs were lost to crows and two remained. A small nest. Perhaps she has nested between her last visit 15 days ago and now. These will be incubated and the hatchlings released.

All this and seeing a dead female Softshell on the road within one day's time drove home the point that these animals are getting it from every angle.

If a female makes her way to a nesting area without encountering dogs, cars, or a man-made obstacle that traps and kills her, then her job is done and she can hopefully make it back to the water to run the gauntlet another day.

The eggs have to avoid: predation (fire ants, crows, raccoons, skunks, foxes, armadillos, etc),  hopefully  the weather isn't too hot or too wet, or someone doesn't begin construction in the area (that's a common reason eggs are brought to me - "I was putting in a driveway and found these eggs"). Of course they can do nothing, they're eggs. Their fate is a matter of their mother's choice in nesting locations and luck.

Then as a hatchling they have to avoid the same obstacles listed above for mother and eggs to make it to the water, and then avoid the predators there (fish, turtles, alligators, etc). If they can manage that for 5-10 years they get a chance to repeat the cycle.

It is hard being soft, but the truth is, it is just hard being a turtle.

This video is misleading in that a variety of birds worked this nest for a few minutes before this one moved in and took an egg.