How a Mother Turtle Responds to a Predator That Wants to Eat Her Eggs

Female Florida softshell turtles spend most of their lives in the water, but when it comes time to lay eggs, they’ll head for solid ground in an attempt to find a suitable nesting place. In most cases, she’ll dig holes to place the eggs into, but as you might come to expect, her behavior captivates the attention of potential predators, such as birds.

In this video, we see a mother trying to lay her eggs and being disturbed by an unwelcome guest. Unfortunately, the predator snags one of the mother’s eggs after she lays it, but she’s able to cease the process before finishing and make a move for shelter before the predator can steal any more.

It’s particularly captivating to see how the bird antagonizes the mother throughout the egg-laying process and to see how the mother responds to this treatment. Had she laid all her eggs, there’d be no chance of successful reproduction at all.