Marilyn Gabriel "Myrtle the Turtle" (non-fiction)

Have you noticed the increasing number of articles about turtles this spring? For example: “Brake for Turtles”; Give A Turtle a Brake”, an area elementary school sponsored a contest to create a sign encouraging drivers to slow down and help turtles to cross the road in their search of warm sandy areas to lay their eggs.

This publicity reminded me of a turtle visitor we have had over the past 8 years. Early one morning, we noticed a large, brown ‘something’ in our back yard. It was a turtle visiting us for the first time. We named her “Myrtle the Turtle” because we liked the rhyming sound.

She moved very slowly, and crawled towards the back of the garage, and moved a few paces, raised her head up, looked left then right. We were amazed seeing her prehistoric features. It took her approximately two hours to choose her spot – right in the middle of our driveway! She dug a hole to lay the eggs. She would drop the egg, and nudge it into the hole with her back leg. We saw 30 eggs in the hole – looked just like golf balls. Myrtle covered the hole with the dirt and traveled back towards the brook.

To protect the eggs from predators, we put a screened, wooden frame over the spot until the dirt firmed up. Sadly, the turtles never hatched, we think because our driveway is in the shade.

Three years later, early morning, mid-June, she returned to our yard. We took photos and observed as she crawled down the driveway, then over to our neighbors’ yard and we never saw her again.

But this year – June 2005 - WOW – it had to be Myrtle, she looked the same & was full in the back and looked desperate for a place to lay eggs! We watched her as she crawled all over the yard. She seemed ‘stuck’ near a small picket fence & plant holder near our front steps. I imagined her getting frustrated, so, ‘acting like a midwife’, I moved the stone and slowly lifted the plant and fence from her path. Her head shot right up, as if to say:“will you please leave me alone! So, I did!

When I returned from work at mid day, I saw seven places she had dug into. I smoothed them all especially the deepest one in our flower bed. We don’t know if she did drop the eggs there. So, we’ll keep watching and give a progress report in September. Perhaps we’ll have several small Snapping Turtles in our yard!

Try www.wildlife.state.nh.us for more information about amphibians.