Turtlesinger, Inc.


is a Federal 501(c)3 Public Charity - New Jersey Charities Registration # CH2998200
Mission Statement: To educate and entertain the public about turtles with original songs and/or live turtles.



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #1 Hatching: Andy



Watch how energetic and varied these tiny terrapins are! You may recall we named Nest #1 Andy. 81 days after laying her eggs, 9 tiny Andys emerged on August 30th, and nine eggshells or their equivalent were found!


The 9 little Andys emerged very close to the full moon.


Also, on August 31st, we discovered a hole from a terrapin who had laid eggs when we weren’t around and that we weren’t aware was there until we found the hole. This was the first of 6 uncovered nests we would find in 2023. We also found 8 eggshells in the hole and no sign of predation, so we hope the 8 hatchlings got away safely!


For the next nest to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #9 Hatching: Lynn



We’re telling you about the nests in the order they emerged, so they won’t be consecutive since the nests didn’t hatch chronologically.


Lynn’s nest hatched after 73 days on September 6th. 11 little Lynns emerged, and we found 11 eggshells, but this was our first experience with terrapins hatching in record-breaking 90 degree heat in the sun. 3 of the hatchlings apparently died of heatstroke—why they didn’t tunnel under until it was cooler we’ll never know. We were heartbroken about this as it had never happened to our hatchlings before.


But we’ll always keep telling you the good news with the bad: We lost the 3 little hatchlings due to the heat, BUT: 8 lively little Lynns were released into the marsh. So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 3, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 17 healthy hatchlings!


For more about the next nests to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #’s 6, 8 & 17 Hatching:
Little Ramp Girl, Bogin Three, and Scotty



3 more nests (+ a mystery nest) emerged on September 9th but…listen to this video and watch as Charlie shows how skunks dug and demolished nests 6 and 8.


What a difference a year makes! We were ready for the delight of finding new baby hatchlings from all these nests, but life became an almost nightly and exhausting ritual of chasing skunks away. We think we only had 1 or 2 (at the end of summer) predated nests in 2022, we think dug up by a raccoon because the entire nest had been lifted out of the ground. But skunks dug under in 2023 and never pulled up the wire cages.


The bad news is after being dug up, all we found in Bogin Three’s nest after 84 days were 9 eggshells and no turtles: we assume the skunk carried them off. Scotty’s nest hatched in 68 days and contained 11 eggshells and evidence of a skunk digging, but we were only able to find 1 hatchling. The other 10 were probably carried off by the skunk.


The GOOD news is we chased the skunk (we saw at least 2 different ones on our night cameras) away before it could get all of Little Ramp Girl’s 8 eggs, which hatched in 81 days: so we saved 5 hatchlings! One was underdeveloped so we brought it inside and covered it up with sand again.


The other good news is we found a hole from a second mystery nest with 9 eggshells and no sign of predation, so we hope those 9 hatchlings made it to safety. So, this means we lost 22 hatchlings to skunks, BUT: 4 healthy Little Ramp Girls and 1 little Scotty were released into the marsh! So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 25, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 22 healthy hatchlings!


For the next nests to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #’s 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 & 11 Hatching: Jane, Lucky, Bogin, Bogin Two, Buckley & Maryland



6 more nests hatched or were dug up by a skunk(s) the next day on September 10th! Here you can watch the skunk appear toward the top of the screen—watch for its white fluffy tail! It was digging out the nests and we came along to try and scare it away. But after we enter, keep an eye on the upper right to middle of the screen behind me, because while we stood there, the skunk, obviously unafraid, came right up behind us to finish what it started!


We assume most if not all missing turtles in these 6 nests were taken by skunks. Out of 8 eggshells found in Jane’s nest (91 days), only 4 little Janes were left. We found 7 eggshells in Lucky’s nest (90 days), which also yielded only 4 little Luckys. Out of 8 eggshells found in the Bogin nest (86 days), 1 turtle survived and another was only partially hatched (with a huge egg sac), so we brought him indoors to continue developing under some sand. 7 eggshells were found in Bogin Two (84 days), and we saved 3 turtles. The 10 eggs/eggshells accounted for in the Buckley nest (77 days) were completely demolished by skunk(s)! We’re not sure what happened to the 10 eggs in the Maryland nest.


We also found a hatchling on the floor of our garage which we figure wandered in when we had the garage door open to mow the lawn and sweep out the garage. We released it.


There was more good news along with bad news. The bad news is that from these 6 nests, skunks got 17 hatchlings. The good news is that out of these 6 nests, 12 healthy hatchlings were released. So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 42, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 35 healthy hatchlings!


For the next nest to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #14 Hatching: SUV



SUV took 86 days to hatch on September 24th and out of 8 eggshells found, we saved 5 hatchlings before a skunk finished with them...but it took 3 hatchlings.


We could not have the skunks removed as they are wild animals and baby turtles are one thing they eat. I would not have minded nearly as much if they had eaten OTHER baby turtles than the ones on our sand pile—after all, the terrapins lay eggs in other yards and across the road, too! Things recommended to discourage skunks that didn’t work were: bright lights kept on all night, loud noises, citrus peels and spray, mothballs, and seen here: Skunk Scram. We sprinkled the entire contents around our nests and our sand pile and the skunk came right back the same night!


Turns out skunks can’t see well—not until you’re really close. Once we were very close, they didn’t care for our super-bright flashlights, nor our citrus bathroom spray. We even brought our cats out on their leashes to help us locate the skunks, but the skunks always came right back after we went inside. We wonder if mother skunks were feeding their babies. What worked the best was laying heavy paving stones around the nests to discourage digging and spraying the skunks with our garden hose. That wasn't entirely successful—but it helped.


So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 45, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 40 healthy hatchlings!


For the next 2 nests to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #’s 18 & 21 Hatching:
Stormy and Bulkhead



Finally, listen to Charlie for some great news! Either our heavy paving stones discouraged the skunks, or the skunks, often nomadic, just moved along…anyway, Stormy’s nest, our last September nest, hatched after 86 days on September 27th with temperatures in the low 60’s, strong northeast winds, and a full moon the next day. 9 hatchlings were released after that storm, including one that finished developing indoors and hatched after 102 days on September 29th!


We were flabbergasted because 2022’s summer nests were all finished hatching by September 5th and all took under 80 days to hatch with very little predation—and no skunks! We released 87 turtles for the 2022-23 season. But 2023 was the summer of skunk decimations and nests that took MUCH longer to hatch!


Skunks went after Bulkhead’s nest (#21) twice! They destroyed 7 terrapins, but on October 2nd after 118 days, we found a hole inside the nest and saved one precious hatchling. We had no idea that terrapin nests would still be hatching in October!


So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 52, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 43 healthy hatchlings!


For the next nests to hatch, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #’s 12 & 23 Hatching:
Front Window and Bushy’s 2nd Nest



2 more nests hatched in October. Front Window’s nest #12 (first 2 pictures here) showed signs of skunks trying to dig under a stone nearby on October 3rd. We wondered if the skunks could hear turtles moving or smell them—or both! There was a hole indicating evidence of hatchlings, and after 98 days we found 4 eggshells and released 4 tiny terrapins, so it seemed the paving stones helped protect this nest from predation: hooray!


Bushy’s first nest (#15) was apparently ravaged by skunks, so after 97 days we’re grateful we were able to save all 8 of the hatchlings from her second nest, #23 (listen to the video)! They’re not moving much maybe because it was only 64 degrees and windy with sprinkles. These hatchlings were found close to the surface and had no egg teeth—an egg tooth is the sign of a very recently-hatched turtle. They had also used up most of their yolk sacs…again, we were rather astounded to have turtles hatching on October 20th, the day before Reptile Awareness Day!

So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 52, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 55 healthy hatchlings!


However, we would be even more astounded by the next nest to hatch! For more about it, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nest #19 Hatching: Traffic Stop 1



Listen to Charlie tell you about the last nest in 2023! Traffic Stop 1 hatched on November 16th after 134 days (she laid those eggs on July 5th)! I’m lucky I noticed a hole in the nest and we also feel lucky the skunks seemed to have moved on by this time. Of the 9 hatchlings we found, the first was very close to the surface and these hatchlings had little to no yolk sacs left after being in the nest for so long.


Again, the previous year all the turtles had hatched within 80 days and all our nests were done by Labor Day! Why these nests took so much longer to hatch is a mystery to us. Were they waiting for the skunks to go away?


So far our total number of hatchlings lost were 52, but released into the marsh in 2023 were: 64 healthy hatchlings!


Our 2023 terrapin nesting season was not yet over. For more about this, SCROLL DOWN…



April 30, 2024



Terrapin Nests #’s 16 and 15 Hatching:
Tundra and Bushy!



Tundra’s nest (listen to Charlie here) was laid on July 2, 2023, but overwintered and hatched after 258 days just last month on March 16, 2024. That morning I discovered movement in the sand! It was only 50 to 54 degrees, but the previous few days were about 70. I noticed the movement at 9:35 a.m., then the first hatchling emerged at 10:45, 2 more around 12:30, and the 4th at 1:30. Finally we excavated the nest and found 3 more for a total of 7!


Bushy’s nest (#15) was dug under by skunks on September 13, 2023 and 5 predated eggshells were found after 74 days. Then on October 6, 2023 a skunk dug a deep hole right by the side of the nest with no shells found. We put stones around the nest and a few weeks ago (in early April) we saw a small mound appear in the nest, followed by a small but enlarging hole. We finally dug up the nest on April 23, 2024 and found one perfect and healthy hatchling after 297 days (a record for us!), around 6 eggshells and no more turtles because the skunks ate the 5 other turtles when digging by the nest in October. We covered the nest again and will watch for any more live hatchlings we may have missed.


So far our total number of hatchlings lost, including nests we discovered that we hadn’t known about, were 84, but released into the marsh for the 2023-24 season were: 79 healthy hatchlings! We’re still hoping for and checking 3 remaining and covered nests: #13 (VW, which we’re not sure has survived some pretty high flood tides in its low location), #20 (Traffic Stop 2, whose nest has had zero activity so they could be overwintering in there), and #22 (Hands Off, whose nest showed 9 eggs/hatchlings devastated by skunks, but since nests can hold up to 13 eggs in our experience means there could be some more overwintering in there).


So, we may not be finished reporting for the 2023 into 2024 Terrapin Nesting Season! But if we discover any additional terrapin hatchlings: you’ll be the first to know! Thanks as always for reading!





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turtlesinger@hotmail.com | Phone: (609) 205-9248