{"id":11336,"date":"2012-06-28T21:15:16","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T02:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=11336"},"modified":"2012-06-28T21:15:16","modified_gmt":"2012-06-29T02:15:16","slug":"terrapin-nesting-season-edges-to-early-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=11336","title":{"rendered":"Terrapin Nesting Season Edges to Early Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wareham Diamondback Terrapin #824<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Diamondback terrapin nesting on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts is edging very close to an end … almost four weeks early.\u00c2\u00a0 Normally, second clutch nesting lingers through the first three weeks of July.\u00c2\u00a0 This year, an unprecedently\u00c2\u00a0warm spring spurred early terrapin emergence from winter slumber nearly a month ahead of schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse observed mating behavior in mid-April, nearly four weeks earlier than previous years.\u00c2\u00a0 Sue\u00c2\u00a0documented\u00c2\u00a0first terrapin nesting\u00c2\u00a0in May when we had never recorded SouthCoast nesting in that month before.\u00c2\u00a0 So, here at the end of June, only a few female terrapins are\u00c2\u00a0straggling ashore to deposit their second and final nest of the year.<\/p>\n

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Terrapin Nest at Edge of Asphalt Hamilton Beach Causeway<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On Wednesday afternoon,\u00c2\u00a0June 27th, female Terrapin #824 crawled ashore along the Hamilton Beach causeway in Wareham and scratched out a nest in the shoulder of the asphalt road.\u00c2\u00a0 Karen Spinks drove by the spot and saw the turtle working on her nest.\u00c2\u00a0 She walked back\u00c2\u00a0to ensure the turtle remained safe from\u00c2\u00a0evening commuter traffic,\u00c2\u00a0while\u00c2\u00a0the terrapin\u00c2\u00a0finished depositing her eggs and meticulously covered\u00c2\u00a0her nest.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Karen Spinks Holds Ten Terrapin Eggs She Rescued<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Karen called the Turtle Journal team to inspect the turtle and to protect the eggs.\u00c2\u00a0 We had recorded 8 depredated nests along the causeway just last week.\u00c2\u00a0 Because of the extreme vulnerabilty of nests in this area\u00c2\u00a0and the impossibility of installing a predator excluder along the narrow asphalt causeway, we harvested the eggs and removed them to a safe turtle garden.\u00c2\u00a0 When hatchlings emerge in September, Turtle Journal will return them to their natal nursery salt marsh.<\/p>\n

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Rufus Guards Freshly Laid Terrapin Nest<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Rufus, the Turtle Dog,\u00c2\u00a0still finds an occasional nest during her morning patrols.\u00c2\u00a0 Once\u00c2\u00a0she confirms the nest, she stands alert and motionless until a researcher arrives to protect the eggs.<\/p>\n

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Terrapin Nests in Gravelly Spit at Aucoot Cove<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A female or two\u00c2\u00a0like the one above still come ashore to nest on the Aucoot Cove barrier spit.\u00c2\u00a0 Available nesting\u00c2\u00a0spots are not too promising as illustrated by the gravelly substrate this female terrapin is trying to penetrate to shape her nest.<\/p>\n

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Injured Terrapin Expels Four Eggs<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With Fourth of July approaching, the busy-ness of the tourist season escalates on the SouthCoast, increasing risk to wandering terrapins.\u00c2\u00a0 This female was run over\u00c2\u00a0near heavily trafficked Route 6 as the road crosses the Weweantic River at the Marion-Wareham line.\u00c2\u00a0 She was grievously injured and brought to Turtle Journal HQ.\u00c2\u00a0 She expelled her eggs without digging and before expiring from the trauma.\u00c2\u00a0 Her eggs were relocated to a protected turtle garden where they will safely incubate.\u00c2\u00a0 Once they have hatched, these babies … preserving the mother’s DNA … will be released into a nursery salt marsh in the Weweantic estuary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wareham Diamondback Terrapin #824 Diamondback terrapin nesting on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts is edging very close to an end … almost four weeks early.\u00c2\u00a0 Normally, second clutch nesting lingers through the first three weeks of July.\u00c2\u00a0 This year, an unprecedently\u00c2\u00a0warm spring spurred early terrapin emergence from winter slumber nearly a month ahead of schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 Turtle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11336"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11372,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11336\/revisions\/11372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}