Prospect Park Turtles Are Heading Inland To Lay Their Eggs

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — Dozens of tiny lake dinosaurs are pulling themselves out of the Brooklyn waters and may be heading to a field near you, because in Prospect Park, summertime is turtle time.

The Prospect Park Alliance sent out a friendly reminder this week to alert Brooklyn it's egg-laying season for the lake's many red-eared sliders and totally normal for the little critters to head inland.

"Most of our turtle species need to come on land to lay their eggs, and have been known to travel far from the Lake to do so," park officials wrote.

"If you see a turtle on land that is not in obvious distress, we ask that you leave it be."

The warning comes at the height of egg-laying season and the turtles have already begun hunting for a safe place to dig their nests and lay their eggs.

The quest for a good nest will send the slow-paced turtles deep into the park, and some have even been known to scale Lookout Hill.

But the sight of a random turtle strolling through a field can often baffle park-goers used to seeing them basking in the sun by the lake.

Officials ask that you not pick the turtles up (it will startle them and possibly get Salmonella on you) and definitely don't try to poach dozens of them by stuffing them into red plastic bags.

It's best not to do this, park officials say:

Red-eared sliders like to spend the late summer soaking up the sun, the winter brumating (think hibernating for turtles) at the bottom of the lake and, for many Brooklyners, they are harbingers of spring when they reemerge in March.

Anyone who spots a turtle in distress can call 311 to alert officials, according to the Prospect Park Alliance post.