Thursday, July 18, 2019,

This is a female Diamondback Terrapin. She’s heading back to the West Meadow Creek after nesting. Terrapins are coastal water turtles and it’s only the females that leave the water. These are not pleasure trips. In fact, it’s all business – the business of continuing the species. The females leave the relative safety of the water to risk predation by animals like foxes and raccoons and many others. They do this in order to find a safe place to lay their eggs so that another generation of Terrapins can follow in her footsteps. JK

JK