While walking through the field by the barn this weekend, I came upon this big turtle. The grass is knee-high or taller, and I didn’t see the turtle until I nearly stepped on it. I was startled and surprised to find it there. I went to retrieve my camera and it hadn’t moved when I got back. It was quiet, and didn’t take exception to my presence, except to retract its head slightly. I carefully laid down a tape measure beside it, not too close. The yellow tape is 12 inches long.
The Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is Ontario’s largest freshwater turtle. With its big jaws and strong neck muscles it is capable of delivering a powerful bite with a lightning-fast strike. Snappers are aquatic and leave water only to nest and migrate, so I assumed this turtle was on the way down to the river in search of a good nest site, perhaps moving from our man-made pond a bit to the south. As there was no road to cross, I didn’t disturb her further and when I came back later, a trail of pressed-down grass showed that she had moved into a big clump of bushes near to where I had found her.
The next morning, Railguy saw a snapper making its way across the driveway and into the long grass bordering the slippery slope down to the river. We guessed this was the turtle I had seen in the field, finally reaching her destination. However, upon returning from an outing later in the day, we found another large snapper on the driveway. This one was much more belligerent than Turtle No. 1, and I carefully herded it over to the side of the drive to allow Railguy to move the car past. Look at those powerful claws.
Later, we saw a third snapper. She was resting in the long grass at the side of the drive, ready for the final leg of her journey down to the river. To the left and right of her, you can make out the pressed-down grass trails left by two other turtles who had preceded her. When I returned later, her trail showed she had jogged to the left and followed the path left by one of those earlier travelers down to the river. When I walked along the drive and inspected the grass carefully, I found 8 readily-discernible trails. Below is the site the turtles were heading for. You can report turtle sightings and learn more about turtles and their conservation at the Ontario Turtle Tally site. To read more about snapper eggs, visit The Marvelous in Nature.
Willow House Chronicles 
Wow, look how low the river is! It’s amazing just how much it fluctuates.
Neat that the turtles left trails as they passed. Were all those trails to the river, or were some perhaps coming up from the river toward the fields? The riverbank seems like a wet place for eggs, I wonder if they were heading up to your neighbour’s fields or something like that.
It seemed to be a major, mostly one-day movement of snappers to the river. They all seemed to be heading that way, though on Monday I found one digging in the gravel of the drive, near the bridge, and apparently preparing to lay. You know how it is when your biological clock is ticking. You gotta go when you gotta go…
Also, in the final photo of the river, you can just make out a bit of a track through the water in the foreground where the turtles seemed to have slid through the mud into the water. In the less wet section before the water, there were tracks that looked to be at least a couple of turtles. So from there they could have swum along the river to a spot that was appropriate.
Ten to one the Snapping Turtle migratory route wasn’t one of the features listed in the real estate ad.
Waterjay, you’re right! It’s inexplicable, that such a great selling point wasn’t even mentioned!
[…] the picture at the top of her website and thought, “I want to be there.” Her story of snapping-turtle traffic near her home is accompanied by some neat pictures. I found the story particularly interesting […]
I began to get interested in snappers when we moved here 5 years ago. I have a love/hate relationship with them…I will be doing some posts on them..this one is about a snake…
Exaggeration is to paint a snake and add legs
Love these critters. Living dinosaurs, really. We especially liked the photo of the snapper in the tall grasses. Something about the contrast was very evocative.
K&R, I was thrilled to see them right here at our place. They really are like dinosaurs, so cool. I hope I’ll see them again this coming year.
Turtle trails: what fun! I’ve never seen these out West but I remember them from visiting my grandparents in Kansas. I love the photo where the head has completely disappeared.
Birthday Rattlesnake
Elizabeth, glad you dropped by. There are times I would like to be able to drop my head out of sight, but usually out of embarrassment!
[…] look at the picture at the top of her website and thought, “I want to be there.” Her story of snapping-turtle traffic near her home is accompanied by some neat pictures. I found the story particularly interesting […]