Dave Seburn's Snapping Turtle culvert

[Frederick W. Schueler]

Everyone,

In 2019 Dave Seburn organized a rescue of Snapping Turtle eggs as a
culvert on County Road 18 was being replaced -
https://canadianherpetology.ca/blog/blog_post.php?id=6 - and I've been
checking the site every year since to see how Turtles have been using
the the rebuilt road embankment -
https://ngtimes.ca/snapping-turtles-scruffing-up-the-ground/

This year's visit was a little late, and turned up fewer predated nests
than past years, along with two road-killed adults well off the
shoulders of the road, so they couldn't have been seen in driving by.
With all the Snappers nesting along road shoulders and roadsides that
we've seen over the decades, this is the worst roadkill I've seen
associated with the roadside nesting.

Another interesting aspect of this roadside nesting is the Grass
germinating in the gravelly soil under and around the guardrails,
suggesting that the herbiciding of the areas along the guardrails may
expose soil to the Sun to an extent that makes them better nesting sites
for the Turtles.

------------------------

29 July 2026 - Canada: Ontario: Grenville County: Oxford-on-Rideau:
County Road 18/xxx Drain... TIME: 1638-1648. AIR TEMP: 23°C, overcast,
Beaufort gentle breeze. HABITAT: small tree-lined brownwater marshy
creek through pastures & tilled field at box culvert. OBSERVER:
Frederick W. Schueler. 2026/139/bb, Chelydra serpentina (Snapping
Turtle). 2 DOR, 3 predated nests adult, nest, egg, prey of predator...
tally of predated nests, diggings all around nearby.

Guardrail SW of culvert: many diggings, 2 predated nests.

W side of culvert: 2 diggings.

Guardrail NW of culvert: Skeletal DOR adult, many diggings, lots of
Polygonum aviculare (Prostrate Knotweed).

Guardrail NE of culvert: DOR skeletal female with eggs - several
diggings - 1.5 m clump of Linaria vulgaris (Butter-and-eggs) - dense
tall grass below guardrail.

E side of culvert: 2 diggings.

Guardrail SE of culvert: 1 predated nest & a few diggings all close to
the culvert.

Lots of short germinating Grass on the gravel of the shoulders & under
the guardrails. Some of the diggings (turtle-size depressions in the
surface) may be from previous years.

--
------------------------------------------------------------
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
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[Matt Keevil]

That’s too bad about the roadkill; I imagine that will be a significant portion of the nesting Snappers at that site unless it’s a lot busier than I imagine.


Matt


Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 30, 2026, at 7:01 AM, Frederick W. Schueler <bck...@istar.ca> wrote:
>
> Everyone,

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