Chelydra serpentina au Parc d'Oka- Quebec, Canada - Turtle Crossings on Waymarking.com

During a bicycle ride in the Oka National Park at the beginning of June, I found this turtle that laid its eggs on the side of the road.

It is a Chelydra serpentina also called the common snapping turtle. Snapping turtles have evolved the ability to snap because unlike other turtles, they are too large to hide in their own shells when confronted.

This is the most primitive and the largest of our freshwater turtles. Its shell is brown or beige. The plastron is very small. The head is large and a pale line connects the eyes to neck. It has a pair of barbels on the chin. The tail is long and decorated with triangular scales giving the appearance of a saw. The shell can reach about 50 cm. 

It lives mainly in ponds, along rivers, small streams, ditches and in shallow areas of lakes.
Females travel over land to find sandy soil in which to lay their eggs, often some distance from the water. After digging a hole, the female typically deposits 25 to 80 eggs each year, guiding them into the nest with her hind feet and covering them with sand for incubation and protection. Incubation time is temperature-dependent, ranging from 9 to 18 weeks.

C'est au cours d'une sortie de vélo en traversant le Parc National d'Oka au début du mois de juin que j'ai rencontré cette tortue serpentine qui pondait ses oeufs sur le bord de la route.

C’est la plus primitive et la plus grosse de nos tortues d’eau douce. Sa carapace brunâtre ou beige est parcourue par trois carènes. Le plastron est réduit et cruciforme. La tête est grosse et une ligne pale relie l'œil au cou. Elle possède une paire de barbillons sur le menton. La queue est longue et ornée d'écailles triangulaires lui donnant l'apparence d'une scie. La carapace peut atteindre environ 50 cm.

Elle fréquente une grande variété de milieux aquatiques. Elle vit principalement dans les marais, les étangs, le long des rivières, des petits cours d’eau, des fossés et dans les zones peu profondes des lacs.

Si vous devez la déplacer, tirez-la par la queue ou manipulez sa carapace dans sa moitié postérieure car elle peut s'étirer le cou jusqu'à la moitié de sa carapace et mordre l'intrus.

Species Link: [Web Link] How often turtles cross: Months most seen crossing: june

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