Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Turtle Nest

Turtle Egg Failure_8030.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw what looked like an exit hole in the turtle nest yesterday so we went there tonight to check it out. We found lots of egg shells and one failed egg, pictured to the right. You can't see it in the photo but there were lots of little maggots squirming around in it. We figured most of the turtles escaped the nest. We searched the surround area and didn't find them. I hope they made it through the red-tailed hawk, raccoon and other predators.

Here is a slide show of the excavation.