Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Baby Midland Smooth Softshell Turtles bury themselves in the sand, finishing with a shimmy...

…along the banks of the Great Miami River herpetologist Paul Krusling found several baby Midland Smooth Softshell turtles (Apalone mutica mutica). I videoed them burying themselves in the sand, capturing the little "shimmy" they perform when they are finished digging. When they decide it's time to go underground, they move fast...



Baby Midland Smooth Softshell turtles bury themselves in the sand. You can identify these as Midland Smooth Softshells (Apalone mutica mutica) by the dot and dash pattern that shows in the carapace.

For photos of Apalone mutica click here.

21 comments:

Carole M. said...

amazing little creature; really different to any I've ever seen. Sweet video clip; thanks for sharing

Kerri Farley said...

Now that is soooooo cool! Love their little "shimmy" :)

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Very neat! I have a little land turtle, now 4 years old, getting ready any day now to bury itself for 4th hibernation~

Roy said...

Heh, heh! Back in Newport I once watched a baby Snapping Turtle bury just its head; I guess it was working on the principle that if it couldn't see me then I couldn't see it.

Kathy A. Johnson said...

Adorable--I can't believe how quick that first one was. Great video.

TexWisGirl said...

oh, that made me smile!

Carol Mattingly said...

OMG! That is so amazing. They're there and then gone in a flash of a few seconds. Carol

Bob Bushell said...

A beautiful video, and, superb creature.

holdingmoments said...

I loved watching that video Kelly.
They certainly move quick.

Unknown said...

loved the video
... shake your booty turtles

too cute

- KAT -

Guy said...

Hi Kelly

A great post, I have really enjoyed your turtle series.

Guy

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Kelly, Don't think I've ever seen a softshell turtle before... Great picture/video.
Hugs,
Betsy

Tammie Lee said...

that is so amazing to see! Thank you for sharing the art of turtle burrowing!

Gillian Olson said...

I have never seen these before, it was a real treat. Thanks.

Montanagirl said...

That's pretty cool, Kelly. He sure can disappear into that sand in a hurry. I've never seen of these before - except on your blog! Thank you.

Judy Birmingham (Seeing Anew Blog) said...

So much for the Tortoise and the Hare story--these little turtles are FAST!

Debbie Miller @HooootOwl said...

Adorable!!!!!!!

Cuby said...

This is a great piece of video footage.These little fellas are so cute I have watched this twice already. Thank you.

Marco Luijken said...

Hello Kely,
A very funny movie. V
ery nice to see how this animal goes under the sand.

Greetings, Marco

Banjo52 said...

The video is really fun. AND educational.

Kelly said...

...thank you, everyone! Weren't these little smooth soft shells fun! I love watching them dig in quickly and then finish burying themselves with a shimmy!