Photo-Diary of a Terrapin Researcher Don Lewis, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Fox Island Wildlife Management Area

Protecting Vulnerable Nests — 14 June 2001

An important conservation theme of nesting season is finding and protecting especially vulnerable nests.  Today that theme kicked into high gear.  The morning began on Turtle Point when I spotted the remnants of a terrapin track that had been mostly obscured by foot traffic.

The trail yielded first several false nests, and finally a spot that seemed too unnaturally smooth for the surrounding terrain.  Probing confirmed Nest 024-01, which I field marked until it could be equipped with a nest protector later in the afternoon.

Several more nests were discovered throughout the day, each temporarily field marked and subsequently protected as appropriate.  One such nest in the shoulder of a dirt road near a new home construction was run over by a multi-axle delivery truck.  The ground was crushed and rutted by tires, yet — thankfully — the egg chamber survived intact.

Another nest was dug on the Crescent Island barrier beach, but unfortunately below where a summer storm tide might reach.  We excavated this nest, which held 15 large eggs, weighing in total 159 grams.  They were relocated to a safer upland site and equipped with a nest protector to evade predation.

The saddest story came from Old Wharf where a resident watched with a scope as a terrapin crawled out of Blackfish Creek, scaled the high dune and dug a 16-egg nest in the soft sand at the corner of her house.  She neglected to report the sighting last evening, opting instead to wait until the next day.  Overnight a predator sniffed out the freshly laid nest and devoured its eggs, leaving an empty nest and torn shards this morning — along with an object lesson about the need to act quickly to get these nests protected when the scent is still recent and strong.

The evening ended on a high note, though, when visitors from New Mexico saw a terrapin strolling down the dirt road in front of their rented cottage.  These summer homes are papered with Wanted Posters and Fact Sheets and numbers to reach the 24/7 Turtle Dispatcher.  So, the visitors called and nervously reported the sighting made by their son Dillon.  Well, at my request, Dillon stood guard from a respectful distance while I jeeped over the causeway.  He helped me record observations on this 10-year-old female whom we were seeing for the first time.

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