Why did the snapping turtle cross the road?

So.... we've got a snapping turtle. Well, we did.

There's a pond on the neighboring property, but this is a first for us. Every morning it's in our yard, on our driveway, etc.

Every. Morning.

Buddy (rightfully) sees it as a threat, so goes insane barking at it and attacking it. For hours.

It is in his blood after all. Defeat the threat or die trying. And at his age, the hours of "fighting" the turtle leave him absolutely drained.

Buddy's so tired. He'd been at it probably 2 hours when I took this pic

The first time the turtle showed up I brought him inside, worried about him losing a toe or something. The second time I realized that he stayed away from its head, so just left him.

But I couldn't figure out why this snapper kept coming out of the water to visit our property. I finally gave Jason the okay to break my no-killing-things-on-our-property rule and take care of it. I couldn't risk the dogs getting hurt, or worse, it being in the weeds or something and surprise Jena one day. Not worth the risk.

So on the day the deed was to be done, sure enough, there it was. Headed right for the driveway. I got Jason, and as he was putting his shoes on, I went back outside to make sure it was still there.

And then we figured out why she kept visiting us, on dry land.

why yes, that is in fact an egg she is laying in our front yard

And now I feel bad. She's a momma.

In the end Jason scooped her up with his snow shovel and put her in a storage bin to relocate to another lake miles away. He was going to a job for his business that day and said there were plenty of places between here & there to drop her off.

Jena: "But what about the eggs?"

Me: "Well, the dogs will probably dig them up & eat them. No biggie."

Jena: "But what about the baby turtles?"

Me: "What hunny?"

Jena: "But what about the babies?"

Me: "You're worried about the baby turtles inside the eggs?"

Jena: {{ nods head }}

Me: "Oh... well... hunny, you realize if they hatch we'll have a lot more snapping turtles, right?"

Jena: {{ looks distressed }}

Me: "Well, maybe Daddy could dig them up & take them with momma turtle"  {{ looks at Jason }}

Jason: "Jena, they're just not gonna live, okay?"

End of conversation. We left the eggs where they were. I'm secretly hoping the dogs have taken care of them by the time we get home tonight.