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It has now been over 100 days since our resident Eastern Box Turtle—affectionately named Gracie—chose the church garden as the place to lay her eggs!
Gracie dug her nest and deposited her eggs on May 26, carefully covered them, and then went on her way. Since then, we’ve been doing something that churches have had quite a bit of experience doing over the centuries: waiting and watching!
And we may be getting very close.
Eastern Box Turtle eggs commonly hatch after about two to three months, but incubation outdoors depends greatly on soil temperature and weather. In cooler conditions, development can take considerably longer. Since our late May and June temperatures were fairly cool, followed by much warmer weather in July and August, Gracie’s eggs may simply be taking their time.
There’s another interesting possibility, too: they may already be hatching beneath the soil. Baby box turtles can remain underground for a while after breaking out of their eggs as they absorb the remainder of their yolk sacs and prepare to make the journey to the surface. Rain can also help soften the soil and make that journey easier. And if they hatch very late in the season, Eastern Box Turtle hatchlings can sometimes remain underground and not emerge until spring.
So, for now, we wait.
A game camera is positioned over the nest so that, with a little luck, we might catch the moment when some very tiny new residents of the church garden make their appearance. Hatchlings can be only about an inch long, so they could be easy to miss!
You may also notice that the traffic cones that had been marking and protecting the nest have now been removed. We didn’t want the cones themselves to become an obstacle—or a tiny turtle corral—if the hatchlings emerge when nobody is watching. The nest area will continue to be observed while allowing the babies a clear path into the surrounding garden.
Of course, nature offers no guarantees. Some turtle eggs never develop or hatch. But at Day 100, there is still good reason to keep watching and to leave the nest undisturbed.
Perhaps Gracie has given us a rather appropriate little lesson right outside the church doors: some new life happens where we can’t see it, on a timetable we can’t control.
We prepare the space. We watch. We wait.
And every so often, we check the game camera!
Stay tuned for the next episode of “Gracie and the Great Turtle Watch!” 🐢
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