seafood platter and turtle eggs

Our neighbor has not yet attached the floating portion of his Weesuck Creek dock but the stable portion, securely anchored to the shore, is permanently in place and provides an excellent lookout post for surveying the back end of our pond and its outflow, our Weesuck Creek shoreline, and the northeast edge of our woods so I make it a major stop on my morning walk. In the past few weeks, it has been covered with shells -- almost an index to the shellfish of the creek: Quahogs or hard-shelled clams, Ribbed Mussels, Slipper or Boat Shell and Blue Crab bits and pieces account for most of the litter. The question is: who do we have to thank for this seafood platter? I always thought that such debris was due to the gulls that hang out in and around the creek. Could they be opening the hard-shelled clams by dropping on the dock to crack them open? Or could they be dropping them on nearby Weesuck Avenue and then bringing them over here to consume? More recently, I have found shells in the marsh, a stomping ground for raccoons rather than gulls. Are raccoons then the gourmet seafood diners?

This morning I watched a gull land in the water next to the dock, duck down underwater (or should one say 'gull down underwater') and come up with a Blue Crab. It didn't bring it to the dock to pick it apart but then I was standing there on the dock watching it. Naturally, it to fly off to some undisclosed location to enjoy its breakfast. So the gull vs. raccoon question remains open.

In the open area next to our porch, I found the remains of turtle eggs that had been dug out of the ground. Although I have never seen Box Turtles burying eggs in the dirt here, it is perfectly possible that they do. Here the culprit is almost certainly a raccoon. We can rule out gulls although possum or fox are also possible (but much less likely) culprits.

Eric Salzman