August 30, 2009 - Sun-baked Snappers

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

If they escaped predation by raccoons, skunks or foxes, the ping pong-sized eggs of snapping turtles are hatching. Hidden in an underground cavity the eggs baked under the sun all summer long. The sun’s heat has a profound impact on the hatching. Cooler temperatures prolong incubation time; warmer ones speed it up. Temperature during the 2 to 3 months of incubation also determines the sex of the hatchling turtles. Lower temperatures produce mostly males while higher ones result in mainly females. Hatchlings dig their way to the surface. Once there, they instinctively head for the nearest water. Many of these young turtles are eaten by predators, but a few survive to make their homes in lakes and slow-moving rivers and streams. Upon reaching maturity, female snappers search out nesting sites for their eggs and the cycle starts anew.
 
This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.