We weren’t the only ones lured out of quarantine by this past weekend’s beautiful weather. Last year’s baby painted turtles, who actually hatched late last summer but overwintered in their nests, seem to have decided to make a mass exodus on Saturday and Sunday, triggered by the warm temps and who knows what other signals they detected from deep in nature’s vaults.
It is one of nature’s mysteries, this underground survival phenomenon that occurs in painted turtle hatchlings. Do they stay snugly entrenched in the dugout their mothers created for them in order to conserve resources or to avoid predation? Possibly. But the greater mystery is how they avoid freezing. Other aquatic species hibernate deep in wetlands, where the ground never freezes. And terrestrial box turtle babies dig down below the frostline for the winter, where temps remain cozy and stable. Painteds, however, have shallow nests, so the neonatal turtles are well within the frozen zone all winter. Yet they manage not to freeze.
Painted turtles, the most common species in Connecticut and the most widespread in North America, are often taken for granted. From their incredible adaptation to northern winters as newborns or their unison emergence in spring, these creatures have a lot more going on than meets the eye. And if you’re fortunate enough to witness their entry into the world and incredible, instinctive journey to their wetlands, count yourself lucky—you’ve truly witnessed a miracle.
