Turtle nesting and death

[Fred Schueler]

Everyone,

this afternoon I went out to look for nesting Turtles, and at the County
Road 20 bridge, which the Blazing-star survey found to be the biggest
nesting site in the United Counties, the whole nesting slope was
completely churned up by nesting, and there were fresh eggshells from
one predated Snapper nest, and a moderate number of diggings along the
guardrails. Aleta had seen one Snapper here yesterday, probably nesting,
in a drive-by. There was also a moderate number of diggings at the
Render Road bridge, and some at the Middle Creek bridge.

On the way out I'd helped one female Painted Turtle across the road, but
when I came back there were two big females smashed open on the road at
the Bishops Mills cemetery, both with eggs, killed between 17h15 and 17h50.

fred.
------------------------------------------------------------
Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
2024 annual letter: https://clt1233162.bmeurl.co/11E63979
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
------------------------------------------------------------

[rmb...@istar.ca]

I looked out the window this evening and saw a big snapper digging a
nest on the beach. I waited until she headed back into the water,
then headed down and grabbed a nest protector I keep handy. I don't
think she laid any eggs but put the protector on anyway, I shall
carefully scrape down the sand tomorrow and see if there are any eggs.
In the past few years the snappers have come out at night and by the
time I get down and check in the morning the raccoons have already dug
them up.

Rose-Marie

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[Fred Schueler]

On 6/10/2025 11:35 PM, rmb...@istar.ca wrote:

> I looked out the window this evening and saw a big snapper digging a
> nest on the beach.  I waited until she headed back into the water, then
> headed down and grabbed a nest protector I keep handy.  I don't think
> she laid any eggs but put the protector on anyway, I shall carefully
> scrape down the sand tomorrow and see if there are any eggs.  In the
> past few years the snappers have come out at night and by the time I get
> down and check in the morning the raccoons have already dug them up.

* this would be a first Leeds County record - you could send it to
Heather Fotherby <hfot...@nrsi.on.ca> for the nesting Turtle
notifications.

fred.
===============================================

--

[e.g. g]

Yesterday sunny afternoon at 2:30 I helped a big snapping turtle complete its crossing the road yesterday in Rideau Lakes Township at the fork of Old Kingston Road and Mahon Road. I didn’t see her nesting nor obvious signs of a recent roadside nest. The tar-and-gravel road there has hardly any shoulder and is barely raised on both sides above level of thickly vegetated marshwater that runs between of cedar groves.

Is this the kind of observation of interest to record?
Elizabeth Gammell

> On Jun 10, 2025, at 10:04 PM, Fred Schueler <bck...@istar.ca> wrote:
>
> Everyone,
>
> this afternoon I went out to look for nesting Turtles, and at the County Road 20 bridge, which the Blazing-star survey found to be the biggestterday nesting site in the United Counties, the whole nesting slope was completely churned up by nesting, and there were fresh eggshells from one predated Snapper nest, and a moderate number of diggings along the guardrails. Aleta had seen one Snapper here yesterday, probably nesting, in a drive-by. There was also a moderate number of diggings at the Render Road bridge, and some at the Middle Creek bridge.

>
> On the way out I'd helped one female Painted Turtle across the road, but when I came back there were two big females smashed open on the road at the Bishops Mills cemetery, both with eggs, killed between 17h15 and 17h50.
>
> fred.
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
> Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
> 2024 annual letter: https://clt1233162.bmeurl.co/11E63979
> 6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>

[rmb...@istar.ca]

My bad, I forgot to put the location: Near Perth Road Village in
Frontenac County. I am not at my most succinct late at night after a
long day.

I am also surprised that Leeds County has turtles nesting later than ours.

Rose-Marie, near Perth Road Village

> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/naturelist/8d7c4625-c044-4466-b574-84bb9095b140%40istar.ca.
>

[I Macaulay]

They are the leeding county.

Senility has been a smooth transition for me.

Note New Hours

Ian Macaulay   Carp, Ontario

Open at 11:AM   Close at 5:00 PM

45.2397 N long: 76.0991 W Elv 137 M UTM
    Don't Forget to Save the Stamps

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[Fred Schueler]

On 6/11/2025 9:21 AM, rmb...@istar.ca wrote:
> I am also surprised that Leeds County has turtles nesting later than ours.

* no, just not reported on Heather Fotherby's <hfot...@nrsi.on.ca>
nesting Turtle notifications.

[Fred Schueler]

On 6/11/2025 8:36 AM, 'e.g. g' via NatureList wrote:
> Yesterday sunny afternoon at 2:30 I helped a big snapping turtle complete its crossing the road yesterday in Rideau Lakes Township at the fork of Old Kingston Road and Mahon Road. I didn’t see her nesting nor obvious signs of a recent roadside nest. The tar-and-gravel road there has hardly any shoulder and is barely raised on both sides above level of thickly vegetated marshwater that runs between of cedar groves.
>

> Is this the kind of observation of interest to record? - Elizabeth Gammell

* well, it's interesting to record - someone may someday do a
multivariate GIS seasonal/habitat analysis of the roads that Turtles
cross - but since the demise of the Ontario Herpetological Atlas the
only conventional way to make it public is via iNaturalist, and if
someone knows how to do the search it is now in the archives of the
NatureList. Without evidence of nesting, it doesn't fit the criteria for

Heather Fotherby's <hfot...@nrsi.on.ca> nesting Turtle notification

e-mail list.

[e.g. g]

Good to know...

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