Rare Video of Newborn Snapping Turtles Entering the World Is Too Cute to Resist

Snapping turtles are not the kind of animal that most people think of as “cute” with their funnel-shaped noses, thick, warty bodies, and armored tails. Box turtles are cute. Sea turtles are adorable. Snapping turtles? Don’t be silly.

And yet, these baby snapping turtles emerging from their hatchling nest and making their way out into the big wide world may just change your mind on the subject. They’re actually kind of precious. Ain’t nature grand?

These snapping turtle hatchlings were recently seen emerging from their nest in the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge outside of Minneapolis. “These baby common snappers were recently spotted entering the world,” reads the caption from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. “Snapping turtles are typically born between August and October. They usually take between 60 to 100 days to hatch, but that date is dependent on weather and environmental conditions. Welcome to the world, snappys!”

Related: Turtle Lover Gently Helps Struggling Baby Tortoise Hatch Out of Shell and It's So Sweet

The Prehistoric Snapping Turtle

Snapping turtles are one of the older reptilian species and have existed nearly unchanged for tens of millions of years. Their modern range stretches across the east coast and midwest of America, from the southernmost regions of the Gulf coast and north into Ontario, Canada.

Despite their fearsome name and reputation, snapping turtles are not an aggressive species. Though they can bite, they are actually not quick to do so. In fact, upon coming upon a snapping turtle in the water, the animal is more likely to bump its nose against you or hide beneath he silt than it is to cause you any harm.

Snapping turtles can go for months without breathing in the cold winter months where they may be trapped under pond ice. They eat a large variety of foods, from fish, small animals, and birds, to many aquatic plants. Though their population is stable, they are widely hunted for their meat, which is used in turtle stew and exported as canned food.

Snapping turtles are known for their slow rate of maturity and their exceptionally long lives—some in captivity are recorded as being over a hundred years old. To balance out these long lifespans, very few snapping turtles survive to their adulthood.

Life Cycle of the Snapping Turtle

Snapping turtles mate in the water, and then the female will climb up onto sandy shores to lay her eggs in a hole she has dug in the sand. She lays dozens of leathery eggs at once, then covers them up with her hind legs and leaves.

At higher temperatures, the incubation of these eggs is significantly shorter, and temperature has also been shown to have an effect on the resulting sex of the hatchlings, with higher and lower temperatures more likely to result in more female turtles hatching, while intermediate temperatures produce more males.

Nevertheless, the success rate of the eggs is relatively low, with only a handful of eggs from each clutch resulting in a live turtle. Hatchling snapping turtles are barely the size of silver dollars. Additionally, though adult snapping turtles have few predators aside from humans, babies are preyed upon by a large number of carnivorous mammal species like foxes, minks, fishers, coyotes, and raccoons, as well as predators birds like hawks and owls.

These adorable turtles have a long way to go before they become the large, scaly swamp creatures we know and love.

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