As ATV rider Billy C was cruising down the beach in KDH this morning, he stopped to check on Nest 7 just laid on June 28th. He found tremendous damage to the nest with empty shells scattered about and a hole going into the nest.
A hungry predator made a meal of sea turtle eggs. Footprints can be seen all around the nest.
Billy found large foot prints near the nest and thought perhaps a coyote had ravaged the nest. Others speculated a fox had a busy night and a local resident reported a fox living under a nearby house with her kits. Billy then called our hotline to report the problem. Chris at the hotline then called Cathy and Kyle D, the original responders to the nest, who went down to further investigate. They cleaned up the site
NESTer Mike W happened to be on the beach, saw some activity at the nest and came over to help install the cage. The cage has flanges on all four sides that are buried beneath the sand and help deter predators.
and buried the remaining eggs. Next came Peggy C and Margaret J who brought a predator cage to install. With some help from Mike W that job was done in just a few minutes!