Dear Neighbors,
I apologize for the length of our grass the last week. It’s long, I know. I don’t like it tickling my calves when I walk through the yard, believe me. It actually really bothers me but you see, the grass length is long to save innocent animal lives, if you can believe it. A few months ago, we had an enormous snapping turtle laying eggs in our side yard.
Remember her? She was in “labor” for hours and hours on end and when she completed her duty, she sauntered off into the back woods to retreat to the river. Each morning in August I’d sneak over to the spot and check for activity. Seemingly, we had lost the babies because too much time had passed. A few people asked about the hatchlings and Matt and I were resigned to the fact that they didn’t make it for one reason or another. I started seeing a lot of bird activity near the hatch site in the middle of September and decided that something was happening. I let the grass go for fear of sucking up a tiny turtle and it’s a good thing I did…
Yep, that’s the tiniest snapping turtle ever. Cute, huh?
Those big eyes! Those droopy lids! Those tiny front feet! Sure, they’re dangerous when they’re bigger but COME ON - could you suck that tiny turtle baby up in a lawn mower?! Exactly. I searched for siblings but I couldn’t find any. It’s possible this little guy is a late bloomer. It’s also possible that his brothers and sisters were scooped up by a hawk or fox. I’m going to mow the lawn high for the next couple of weeks jussssst in case. I promise, the lawn will return to its manicured state (on a good day) soon.
Thanks,
Amanda