{"id":7030,"date":"2010-08-06T18:29:57","date_gmt":"2010-08-06T23:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=7030"},"modified":"2010-11-14T13:53:39","modified_gmt":"2010-11-14T18:53:39","slug":"new-life-emerges-first-terrapin-hatchling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=7030","title":{"rendered":"New Life Emerges — First Terrapin Hatchling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"first<\/a><\/p>\n

First Terrapin Hatchling of 2010<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In April we watch diamondback terrapins emerges from seven months of winter slumber.\u00c2\u00a0 In May we observe them gather in mating aggregations to start the renewal process.\u00c2\u00a0 In June we track female terrapins landward as they bury two nests a year, each separated by 2.5 weeks, in shoreline uplands for summer incubation.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we wait, and we wait, and we wait … with all the patience of grandparents pacing outside the labor room.\u00c2\u00a0 One month, two months … and finally\u00c2\u00a0a baby pips through its eggshell and emerges as the first sign of new life.<\/p>\n

\"first<\/a><\/p>\n

Pipped Hatchling Peers from Its Torn Eggshell<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse checked\u00c2\u00a0sites throughout Lieutenant Island as the first laid nests passed sixty days of incubation.\u00c2\u00a0 In Nest 236 on Lieutenant Island’s Turtle Point, Sue discovered the first South Wellfleet hatchling of the year in a nest that had been mostly desiccated by the hot, dry days of June and July.\u00c2\u00a0 This baby had incubated in its egg for 61 days.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

First Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling of 2010<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And what a beauty this one proved to be!\u00c2\u00a0 Of course the first is always the most beautiful as it marks the promise of rebirth and renewal for this threatened species.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, this little critter, who emerged from a smallish egg that had been moisture starved through the summer, seemed particularly feisty and ready to meet its brave new world.<\/p>\n

\"first<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome to Outer Cape Cod!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For all terrapin researchers and conservationists in Southeast Massachusetts, the game’s afoot and the fun has begun.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be a very busy\u00c2\u00a0season as turtle nests will be popping from backyards to bogs to salt marshes to coastal dunes for the next three months.<\/p>\n