What kind of turtle is this?
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M$6 Answers
Its quite possible that laying a clutch of eggs was exactly what it was doing in your yard as you stated there is a large body of water close and the water is where these turtles spend the vast bulk of their time.
However they come out of the water to lay their eggs at this time of the year.
Common Snapping turtles are believed to have a natural life span of about 30 years, but they have been documented to live much longer in captivity so its possible that they reach an older age then 30 commonly in the wild.
Only way I could be able to tell the sex is to actually be able to physically examine the turtle in your picture, or witness her laying a clutch of eggs.
If your not familiar with handling Turtles I would STRONGLY suggest you DO NOT attempt to handle a mature Snapping turtle as they pack a serious ability to inflict a nasty bite, and they can stike amazingly fast.
Enjoy her visit, budda, to your yard and allow her to go her way would be my suggestion. She really is a very pretty specimen.
If you suspect she has layed a clutch of eggs and know where it was layed you might want to stake the spot as reference.
Give your consevation dept a call and ask their advice as to what you should do.
personal knowledge
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M$And a beautiful one at that!
Mary Doane, the turtle laday
www.ProjectNature.org
@turtlelady81
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M$
I mean Mary Doane, the Turtle Lady... I'm spelling challenged today : (
It is not a common snapper because they are noctural, They are found buried in sand and mud during the day so therefore buddawig would not have seen it roaming around his front yard and garden.
http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/snapper.htm
I had a suspicion it was a Snapping Turtle. Can you tell if the turtle is female or male? This turtle dug around in my front yard moving grass and dirt and from the little I know about turtles (nature television, PBS, Discovery Channel etc.) it does seem like this turtle might have laid eggs in my yard.
I live in a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat and it is important that I do what I can to protect the turtle and its possible clutch of eggs. The association landscapers should be warned that there might be a nest in my yard before they mow the grass.
NWF.org | Certified Wildlife Habitat 
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M$
Good pages
Thanks! I enjoyed them a lot, those pages. I still have a pet Sulcata tortoise, so I kept that page in my remaining PM stash (sentimental value).
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M$http://aboxturtle.com/threetoed.htm
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M$
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M$
I have a photo of the mama turtle laving the spot where she spent 2 hours laying her eggs. I have notified the NH Fish and Game, NH Audubon, and the National Wildlife Federation that certified our community as a "Certified Wildlife Habitat" so they hopefully will get back to me with some suggestions on how to protect the clutch from my potentially gawking neighbors and the certainty of the landscapers and the power lawn mower.
In this photo the little pile of dirt in the right of the frame is her nest.
I will do my best to protect my new brothers and sisters so I am off to Home Depot later today. While there I will pick up something that I can use to protect the nest. Today is Sunday and it is raining here so the landscapers will certainly not be here today but I cannot do much against the neighbors or other natural predators until I get back.
Hopefully I can use the NWF "Certified Wildlife Habitat" status of our community environment as a protective measure against the neighbors so I will only have to focus on the critters that might want to get the eggs. You can be sure I will leave alone and pay attention as needed and as necessary.
@buddawiggi,
Very cool that Turtle shared this circle of her life with you and has honored you with guadianship of her young.
Possibly you could create a wire basket or some sort of protective cover that would not be an eyesore?
I'm sure you will do your best to honor Turtle.
If it works out try to get some pictures of the young snapper turtlettes when they hatch.
They are cute little guys and from a native american perspective they are forever your brothers and sisters. :-)
Yes that is a snapping turtle. Keep your distance, @buddawiggi. Help the nest if you can; but, it is not an endangered species. They seem to be doing ok. They are not suitable for pets!