Nature Gallery 8 (Common Snapping Turtle)

This female Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra s. serpentina) spent several hours near Hilton Pond one summer afternoon excavating a nest with her hind legs, laying eggs, and covering everything with a slurry of urine and mud.

The efforts of the snapper went for naught, however, when a wandering Raccoon (Procyon lotor) found the nest in less than 24 hours and consumed the turtle's eggs, leaving behind nothing but leathery eggshells, an empty hole in the ground, and a lost reproductive season.

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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this website--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.

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© Hilton Pond Center This female Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra s. serpentina) spent several hours near Hilton Pond one summer afternoon excavating a nest with her hind legs, laying eggs, and covering everything with a slurry of urine and mud.
© Hilton Pond Center The efforts of the snapper went for naught, however, when a wandering Raccoon (Procyon lotor) found the nest in less than 24 hours and consumed the turtle's eggs, leaving behind nothing but leathery eggshells, an empty hole in the ground, and a lost reproductive season.