Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Nerodia erythrogaster transversa
Lat: 33.20, Long: -96.64
Spotted on Apr 12, 2010
Submitted on Jun 12, 2011
6 Comments
Neat. Kinosternids (mud and musk turtles) and Emydids (pond and river turtles) actually lay oblong eggs. Chelydrids (snappers) and Trionychids (softshells) lay spherical eggs.
Thanks - I'll try to post a photo. They were not as round as most turtle eggs I've seen. About 3cm long submerged in 8cm water. No sign of a ripped open nest.
Watersnakes actually bear live young. As do Garter and Ribbon Snakes, Queen and Crayfish Snakes, Pit Vipers (excluding the Bushmaster) and many others. Could have been turtle eggs that were snatched up by a predator and dropped, or flooded over. Mud and musk turtles will often lay their eggs under a log rather than burying them, and occasionally the make-shift nests flood.
Mitch - does this or any water snake lay eggs directly in the water? Found two lone herp eggs in the shallows today...
Sweet! Thanks!
You got it right with Blotched Watersnake