A reservoir native—the
protected Western pond turtle—has just finished this year’s nesting, while
the next generation gets ready for life on its own.
The females have dug
into sunny sandy areas not far from the lake shore, laid their eggs, and gone
back to the water. The eggs incubate in the warm sands for about three to
four months. The tiny hatchlings will make their way to the water in the fall.
Those newborn females won’t reach maturity, and begin their own nesting, for a
good six years or more.
The Peninsula Watershed
is home and refuge to a multitude of native California wildlife species and has
the highest concentration of rare, threatened or endangered species in the
nine-county Bay Area. The Western Pond Turtle is designated a “species of
special concern” by The California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
No comments:
Post a Comment