A Turtle Named Nigella

Each year, when the Nigella begins to bloom, our resident snapping turtle wanders up into the garden in search of a place to lay her eggs.

These photos show her up hill about the length of a football field (or more) in search of the perfect place.

When she is lurking in the creek in the spring, she hunkers down and waits for those dear little new-born mallard ducklings to swim over her hunting grounds…alas!

There are hundreds of littler turtles like her, but she is the only one that I spy each spring up this far into the gardens. I usually smell her first and then find her in the vegetation. Maybe by the time her hatchlings find their way back down to the creek, they’ll be too big for whatever the predators for them relish.

Welcome back, Nigella!