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apalone ferox
this baby florida soft-shell hatchling was found far from water i put his exact location where i found him. though there were two ponds on either side i highly doubt something barley larger than a penny had managed to trudge through all the obstacles to the next pond. i was confused about how he got there so my theory was that a heron or something picked him up and dropped a long distance from his pond. he was very dehydrated when we found him he was smaller than the average healthy hatchling and when offered a drink gladly took it. after a short recovery about 10 minutes the once exhausted turtle was bubbly and trying to dig at every opportunity so he was release in the pond across the street and houses.
Spotted on Aug 18, 2013
Submitted on Aug 18, 2013
6 Comments
WOW!!!! Love this series! Possibly one of my favorite on PN!
My little brother found a day old Peninsula Cooter on the side of the road and it was about the size of your softshell turtle right there! We ended up getting to keep it and It's about the size of five or six pennies now!
Good thing you helped him, a turtle that young isn't likely to successfully cross a road. I'm always proud of turtle helpers.
Very neat little find and fantastic that you helped him find some water!
thats very true. i have quite an imagination but its to bad that the nest hatched in a dry field area between two roads and a line of apartment complexes. poor little guy seemed very dried out and tired.
Your heron theory isn't too far-fetched, but it looks like this individual had emerged from its nest just before you found it. It's not unlikely for a mother softshell to travel so far from water to lay her eggs.