The Urban Pantheist

This past Saturday I went to Dedham Trail Day. There were tables from local businesses and organizations (free pulled pork and ice cream!) and a friendly atmosphere. But the main reason I went was because my friend dedhamoutdoors was going to lead a nature walk on a newly opened trail!
As I waited for the nature walk to start, I walked along the milkweed looking for creatures. I found several longlegged flies, but they move so quick that the only way to catch one was to get this shot of its shadow from below.

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Location: The Riverway, by the obsolete Carlton Street Footbridge.

Urban species #168: Snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina

The largest reptile in New England is also the most common reptile of our urban places. Tolerant of pollution, and able to make use of a variety of different food sources, including aquatic plants and carrion, the snapper seems otherwise unlikely to live in the city. Living up to 40 years and growing to 30 pounds or more, the snapping turtle is viewed by many as a fierce predator. It can be, as it squats in the muck covered with algae, ambushing fish, frogs, and arthropods. The snapper's long neck can extend almost the entire length of its body, and its strong jaws and sharp beak chop prey animals in half. But very often, particularly in urban settings, snapping turtles scavenge the meat of animals that have already perished.

Most city people become aware of snapping turtles when, usually, in the early morning on a bright summer's day, they encounter a snapping turtle on land. These animals are loathe to leave the comfort of the murk, but are compelled to do so when it is time to lay their eggs. Females, laden with eggs that may have been fertilized by sperm that they have stored in their bodies for over a year, haul their bulk onto land and make a perilous journey. The snapping turtle's body is covered by their shell quite incompletely, and much exposed flesh is vulnerable to raccoons, foxes and the like. This is why, on land, a snapping turtle will puff up, hiss, and strike ferociously. They must find a place to lay their eggs in well-drained soil, to ensure that they will not be destroyed by flooding--the eggs must breathe. Sandy soils are preferred--path and road edges, as well as parking lots are favored locations for nests.

Anywhere between a dozen and eighty eggs may be deposited, and the vast majority will are eaten by skunks and other predators. The tiny hatchlings are fodder for herons, other birds, and fish. Only a few make it to adulthood, but when they do, nothing can reliably prey on them. Once grown, an urban snapping turtle's worst enemy is the common automobile.



[I have been asking people at every opportunity--for instance, snapping turtle demonstrations at my work--if they have ever been bitten by a snapping turtle in the water. It is my belief that, while this is a widely feared event, it almost never occurs.]