While walking in Wellfleet, MA, yesterday (29 September 2022) every now and then we noticed these tracks crossing the sand.
I had an idea about the animal responsible for them and I was hopeful that we might find one, but for a while we just keep running across more tracks:
We were just about to give up when we finally found the individual that made some of the tracks:
Yes! I hadn't seen one for years, but this is a Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) hatchling.These turtles live in salt marshes on Cape Cod and the young turtles emerge from nests at this time of year.
Here's a view of the hatchling from the side:
And another view from above, this time with a ruler for scale. The turtle's shell is only ~2.5 cm long:
Turtles are one of the groups of animals that led me down the natural history path, so I was glad to spend a few moments with this little terrapin.
2 comments:
Jackie, y'all are having a productive vacation, it seems. I love all the detail on that little guys shell.
Amazingly, to me, I actually guessed its identity (well, to "Order", anyway :)
That tail dragging in the sand, helped a lot.
Vishnu
Hi, Vishnu!
Yes, we tried to pack as much as possible into our short visit to New England. More photos to come!
Great job with the turtle tracks! Sometimes the tail drag was more visible, other times not so much, but it was a very helpful clue!
:) Jackie
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