As I scraped the last morsels of pasta with @patagoniaprovisions smoked salmon out of my bowl, a tiny creature caught my eye. The smallest turtle I have ever seen crawled slowly in front of my feet. The shell of this dusty little reptile was the size of a quarter. It seemed to be slowly making its way towards the water 50 feet away. Amy gently picked it up so that we could take a few quick photos of it. We noticed a tiny white horn on the tip of its nose. We think this helped the baby turtle break out of its shell when it hatched. After a short time the little white horn will disappear. Eventually the turtle made it down to the water’s edge and swam away.
We think this is a northern slider based on the yellow stripe on its neck. We are used to seeing turtles lay eggs in June, but we were surprised to see a baby turtle in early May. Has anyone else found freshly hatched turtles this early in the spring? We would love to hear any thoughts or information that you can share.
We think this is a northern slider based on the yellow stripe on its neck. We are used to seeing turtles lay eggs in June, but we were surprised to see a baby turtle in early May. Has anyone else found freshly hatched turtles this early in the spring? We would love to hear any thoughts or information that you can share.
After 225 days, this unique Wilderness continues reveal new treasures every day. The Boundary Waters is threatened by copper mines in a sulfide-ore body that are being proposed along the southern border of our nation’s most popular Wilderness. We must work together to protect this national treasure. Together we can @savetheBWCA, but we all must take action.
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #spring #wearethewild #turtle #baby #reptile #animal #wilderness #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #captureMN #onlyinMN
