turtle rescue and hatching

It is an amazing and exciting happening. We now have 16 snapping turtle babies that have graduated to the real world of the marsh. This is over 50% of those collected and there are 10 to go.

It has not all been safe sailing. One little baby was barley released when it found out that it will be a few more years before they are no longer prey. It was just crawling across a lily pad when a bull frog lunged towards it. There was a great splash and no more turtle.

There is more to this story. When the one meets it froggy end, we were letting two others go. One of these had not moved since we spotted found it outside its egg shell. We wondered if it had died. When it was put on the edge of the marsh it just lay there for a few minutes. After the bull frog attack it waited a few more seconds and quickly dove into the water.
We are still waiting for any sign of life from the map turtle eggs, but still have hope.