Sunday, June 15, 2014

A Stop at Terrapin Station!

O.K., perhaps not "Terrapin Station" (that's for our son-in-law)
but it was a stop at the Alloway Creek Watershed Estuary
where we found over a half-dozen Northern Diamondback Terrapin
digging deep and laying their eggs for safe-keeping. (next pic)

Unfortunately... the predators outnumber the terrapin by about
three-to-one (on a good day!)  We also found dozens of recently
cleaned out sites where the turtle eggs had been destroyed.

We cheered this Mama on... as she layed egg upon egg.

This is the top shell design of one of the Diamondbacks that we
found crossing the footpath... exquisite!

Up-close and personal...  we came across hundreds
(no exaggeration here... 100's) 
of fiddler crabs scooting into their little mud-hole houses on either side
of the brackish waters!

We also came across two slithering Eastern King snakes along the footpath.
Each of these beauties stretched three to four feet in length. 
(this pic is not mine, it was taken by Brian Zarate ©)

The plan is to head back to the area in 3 months or so to see if we can spot any of the new hatchlings!

2 comments:

  1. Love the nature walk via photos! God's creatures are so oblivious to their breath-taking beauty, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful shell design. I'll look forward to hearing about and seeing what you find in three months time. I hope its overrun with baby terrapins.

    ReplyDelete