Springtime Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling (2010 Cohort)
The greatest pleasure for a turtle researcher and for the Turtle Journal team is discovering springtime hatchlings. These miraculous creatures were born in the early fall and have spent the entire winter burrowed underground either in their natal nests or in make-do hibernacula scratched in uplands.
Inch-Long Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling
Despite long, harsh winters here in the Great White North, buried in mounds of snow topped with crackling ice, these delicate 4-gram, 1-inch long miracles survive. And when spring temperatures sneak into the mid-60s and sunshine bakes their upland hideouts, miniature turtles scramble to the surface to begin their arduous journey to the safety of their salt marsh nursery. Unlike their brothers and sisters in the fall who scramble down-slope to the marsh in zigzag posses, these springtime hatchlings make the journey solo. They wander in seemingly random patterns akin to the mathematician’s “drunkard walk,” and somehow a few dodge hungry predators and avoid dehydration to reach their destination. Sometimes it takes the intervention of an observant turtle watcher like Becky Okrent of Lieutenant Island to rescue a weakened hatchling nomad like this one.
Springtime Hatchling with Depleted Yolk Sac
When first born in the early fall, terrapin hatchlings are blessed with a large yolk sac of energy to keep them going through the hard winter months without the worry of active foraging. In the Great White North, babies must entered winter brumation almost as soon as they emerge from the nest as new-born hatchlings. The nourishment of the yolk sac sustains them through the fall search for a winter underground hideout and through the long seven months of brumation. In the image of this hatchling shown above, the protruding yolk sac has disappeared and the plastron has begun to heal over. By the summer, there will be no sign of where the yolk sac had been.
The World through Hatchling Eyes
Thanks to a little human kindness from Becky and Dan Okrent, this tiny hatchling was rescued from its aimless wanderings. It will now receive a little “head start” on its way to survival from the outstanding husbandry at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster. You can visit this tiny miracle at the museum this summer before it returns to the wild to continue restoration of Cape Cod’s diamondback terrapin population.