Slow Down, It’s Turtle Time!

If you grew up on Cape Cod you probably spent some serious time mucking around in ponds and wandering in the woods and fields, meeting more than a few turtles and frogs along the way.

Turtles are fairly common on Cape Cod, but you have to be in the right places at the right time to see them. Being reptiles they are cold-blooded and therefore must brumate (hibernate) in the winter months, so spring and summer are the best time to find them. June may be the absolute best time for that when the females of all our local species are out and about looking for nesting spots to lay their eggs.

We have six species of turtles here today. The most common turtles live in freshwater and can be found in ponds, lakes, and swamps. If you come upon turtles sunning themselves on logs or rocks, they are likely to be our most common and easy to find turtle, the eastern painted turtle. With a shiny black back and a face, neck, and limbs streaked with vibrant yellow and red, it is easy to see where they got their name.

Painted turtles hunt for their food underwater and are omnivores, eating both animal and plant matter. They eat aquatic insects, fish, worms, and aquatic plants as well.

Snapping turtles are easily recognized by their malevolent appearance. Covered with gnarly spikes and points, they look nasty even when small, and their appearance doesn’t lie. Their long necks can whip around in an instant and their strong jaws can inflict serious damage. Lucky for us they are far more interested in fish, small animals, frogs and other underwater creatures than in us. I still wouldn’t offer one a finger or a toe, however.

Musk turtles live most of their lives underwater and are not as easy to find as some others. They do tend to live in the same area, though, so once you know where to find one you will probably see it often. These turtles have a strong odor and are also called stinkpots. If you pick one up, you’ll find out why.

Our last freshwater turtle is a spotted turtle. These turtles are smaller than the others and shyer as well. When I was a kid, they were common in a neighborhood pond but alas, that pond, like many others, was filled in and built over many years ago. There are still small populations of spotted turtles on the Cape, but most are in protected areas, having lost habitat to development. As their name suggests, they are covered with spots.

Eastern box turtles are a species of special concern under the Endangered Species Act, having also lost habitat to development. Once so common almost every school child knew where to find one in their own neighborhood here, they are now less and less easy to find. They are our only land turtle and should never be tossed into a pond or other watery area. Occasionally they may be found in the shallow water of a pond edge cooling off on a very hot day, but they cannot swim. Interestingly, they get their name from the fact that their plastron, or bottom shell, is hinged and can close all the way up like a box. Found in fields and wooded areas these shy turtles feast on berries and fruits but also eat worms, insects, and slugs.

Diamondback terrapins are unique in that they live in the brackish waters of our salt marshes. Due to their fame as a delicacy once served at many fancy events, these turtles almost became extinct due to too much popularity. These days they are protected by being listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

All turtles live in their shells all the time. Their shells are made of bone and their ribs are attached to the carapace, or top shell. Being reptiles they have a backbone and a full skeleton. Some can retract their heads, limbs, and tails into their shells, though some do this better than others.

All our local turtles are out and about right now because it is egg laying time. You may see a turtle crossing the road or walking along a trail or bike path. Stop to let them pass or cross if you can, and if you come upon one laying eggs, please try to ignore it and move on. A disturbed female turtle may abandon the nest and leave the eggs uncovered.

Turtle eggs are oblong and leathery, not hard like bird eggs. The mother digs a flask-shaped hole in the sand or dirt and then flips each egg into the hole with her back feet after she lays it. Each species may have a different egg count, but there are somewhere between four and 20 eggs per hole. When she is done, the female will cover the eggs and return home, never to think about her eggs or young again.

Sex of the baby turtles will be determined as they develop by the temperature outside their nest. Cooler temperatures may result in males, with warmer temperatures resulting in females. Nests and hatchling turtles are often victims of predation by many animals and birds. Nature, of course, allows for some of this, but we can help their chance of survival by not visiting a nest or leaving our scent around it.

Mass Audubon and other organizations are actively working to help stabilize populations of both box turtles and diamondback terrapins by tracking adult turtles, marking nesting areas, and even headstarting baby turtles in captivity before releasing them back to the wild. We can do our part by leaving them be. It is, by the way, illegal to keep a wild turtle as a pet in Massachusetts.