A Terrapin Tale

A couple of weeks ago, I came upon a diamondback terrapin laying her eggs in a small, deep hole she had dug in the sandy soil and pebbles at the threshold of a shed.  It was a sight to behold and although I had my trusty iPhone video camera with me, I was so excited at what I was watching that all I managed to film of the egg-laying was my leg.  About three minutes of my Bermuda-shorted thigh, to be exact.But I settled down enough after the deed was done to take some pictures and video of a sight that was almost as thrilling to a nature nerd like me, and that was the terrapin using her hind, webbed feet to cover up the hole that she'd excavated for her eggs.It took her a while, but by the time she was done, you would never have known that ten minutes before, the place was a reptilian construction site.  All contractors should clean up a site the way this mother terrapin did.And then she walked off without a backward glance and took a flying leap into the river.  Here's my video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uQJOlXLaYwReturning some hours later, the site appeared disturbed to me.  Did some other critter--an osprey, a fox, a crow--come along and eat those eggs already?  Nature may be fantastic, but it's cruel.  I wasn't going to poke around and risk damage to the eggs, if they were still there, to find out.  I'll just have to keep an eye out for tiny hatchlings in 60 to 120 days.Now you didn't think you'd get out of this post without a book reference, did you?  I can't write about diamondback terrapins without mentioning a great picture book about this animal, the state reptile of Maryland, called Jemma's Got the Travel Bug.  It's by my friend Susan Glick, with vivid, appealing illustrations by Kelli Nash.  I love this gentle but also exciting book about a young terrapin's travels in the Chesapeake Bay.  A perfect summer read for the kids in your life.