Printer Friendly Version - Turtles in our Midst: Familiarity Breeds Conservation

The elusive wood turtle is a complex, declining species that occupies a range of habitats during the year, from clean rivers to woodlands to open areas.Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

When people think of turtles, the water is always bluer far from home. Sea turtles, those ethereal denizens of the deep, are universally adored. The silhouette of a turtle with flippers is a ubiquitous symbol of everything remotely ocean-related. People spend real money to travel to distant beaches to help protect sea turtle nests. But ask anyone about local turtles—those struggling to survive in our own backyards—and you’re likely to get a blank stare. We have turtles here?

Yes, we do. Connecticut is home to eight native turtle species, in fact—each with legs, not flippers. Seven live here along the shoreline, and four of those are listed species, meaning that they are on the state list of endangered, threatened and special concern species. Only three—common snapping turtles, eastern painted turtles, and common musk turtles—are still considered “common” species here, but scientists overwhelmingly agree that all turtles are in decline.

These mythical icons of longevity and wisdom are, ironically, one of if not the most endangered vertebrate group worldwide; more than half of all species now face extinction.

When you’re talking about a creature that has been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth, that’s saying something. These are animals that evolved to survive just about everything—except human need, speed and greed. They are slow-moving, long-lived, low-reproducing reptiles that can withstand unbelievable stressors, from temperature extremes to severe injury. But they are in no way adapted to the pace or pressures of civilization. There’s truth behind that old tortoise and hare fable; slow and steady has historically won the race.

Trying to coexist with human society is, for turtles, death by a thousand cuts. We divide and conquer their habitats, run them over when they venture beyond those habitats, and steal them from the few places and populations they have left. For an animal that takes about 50 years to replace itself, this is unsustainable.

North America, home to the greatest number of turtle species in the world, is a turtle biodiversity hot spot. In Connecticut, the shoreline area is a stronghold; all but the critically endangered bog turtle still call this area home, while many have disappeared from other areas of the state. Turtles are actually one of our area’s most valuable, at-risk natural resources, and one of the most under-appreciated. Despite the impressive variety of these highly specialized reptiles right under our noses, local turtles remain virtually invisible.

As a native turtle rehabilitator, I am constantly reminded that, to the public, a turtle is just a turtle: one generic being that has a shell, lives in a pond, and eats lettuce.

No wonder they’re in trouble. If we hope to save these ancient icons, we all need to take our responsibility for their well-being seriously. That begins with becoming acquainted with them. Being able to identify our seven local turtle species and knowing their basic natural history is critical not just to helping them, but to avoid harming them.

Why is ID important? Because each species is entirely different. They look different, live in different places, and have different needs. Without knowing what you’re dealing with, even the best intentions can backfire.

Diamondback terrapins, for example, live in brackish (part salt, part fresh) water along the coast, and are our one full-time marine turtle. If you found a hatchling but didn’t know what it was, you might assume that it was a freshwater species, like a snapping turtle. Or you might mistake a spotted turtle you found on a busy road for a small painted turtle, since both are dark, smooth-shelled species. Painted turtles do live in ponds, but spotteds do not. They are not good swimmers, and need shallow wetlands like woodland marshes and vernal pools.

Moving any uninjured adult turtle anywhere but across the road in the direction it’s headed is always the wrong thing to do. But trying to help these foundlings get home based on these assumptions would be disastrous. Neither belongs in a large body of fresh water any more than a painted turtle belongs in Long Island Sound. Not only would they hard pressed to survive, they would be alone and unable to reproduce. So much for preservation.

The ability to correctly identify a turtle is also critical because sharing information about it can either help or hurt. On the plus side, the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) manages a Natural Diversity Database that relies heavily on public input to identify and conserve endangered wildlife. When you meet a turtle on a trail, don’t realize it’s a listed species, and don’t report the sighting, the agency may never know there’s a population there in need of protection.

Conversely, if you post on social media about the cool turtle you found in XYZ location, you may have just condemned that entire population. Illegal trade in reptiles—one of the most grave and immediate threats to our turtles—has exploded in the past several years, and poachers are active throughout the U.S. Listed species are particularly vulnerable, and Connecticut is no exception.

Endangered turtles and snakes are sitting ducks when it comes to illegal collection; they can’t run or fly away. Traffickers troll the Internet looking for posts that might help them find these animals, and can even extract GPS information from most photos unless it has been actively removed. Furthermore, many wildlife groups on Facebook still expect members to declare where they saw an animal, regardless of the threat that doing so poses to that animal.

The responsibility of recognizing a listed species and concealing its location falls on the people taking and posting these photos. Unfortunately, most people post precisely because they can’t I.D. the animal and are looking for help. By then it’s too late.

But naming the species isn’t always enough. Eastern box turtles, probably the most recognizable and beloved of Connecticut’s turtles, are easy to identify. They are also frequent victims of public ignorance when it comes to their natural history.

Box turtles are mainly terrestrial and apt to spend the summer in an overgrown area of your yard near the forest edge. They also hibernate on land, sometimes under brush piles. Being aware of these behaviors can help you avoid them with a mower or brush hog. Most important, they are a homing species: they imprint on where they live. Relocating one to a presumably safer spot can be a death sentence, triggering an epic journey in search of home.

Even in turtle rehabilitation, natural history is as important as fixing a broken shell. For instance, some species, like wood turtles and their spotted turtle cousins, split their time between land and water, but knowing which wetland they’re from is irrelevant if it’s not the right time for them to be there.

This lesson was driven home for me by a wood turtle who had come in as an injured patient; when it was time to release him at his home river, he would not swim away. Of course. It was high summer—time for him to be out foraging for slugs in the undergrowth. It took four hours to find a safe, appropriate, wild area for him along that dense, urban river corridor.

There are plenty of things all turtles have in common, and that’s where basic knowledge about their life cycle is useful. Just like sea turtles, female aquatic turtles leave the water to find nesting spots in late spring through early summer. Some travel long distances to do so. That’s why—and when—so many are hit crossing roads, and why you may find a snapping turtle hanging around your yard for a day or two, even if you live a mile from any wetland.

Don’t panic! She’s just shopping for a spot to lay her eggs and will head home when she’s done. She’s not interested in you, your dog, or your children; she just wants to be left alone to do what her kind has been doing for nearly 300 million years. Relax and enjoy watching her from a distance. It’s not every day one is visited by a real, live dinosaur! What’s more, she’s likely to be an annual visitor, so preserving that nesting area is important.

Once you’re in tune with the turtle calendar, you can be proactive, too. Putting up turtle crossing signs at high road mortality spots is a great thing to do between May and July. When you’re aware that tiny hatchlings emerge in late summer or early spring and immediately head back to the family wetland (also just like sea turtles), you’ll be able to help the one you find stranded in a parking lot or in your pool get there. Google maps is a good resource to use to help find that wetland. And while turtles don’t (as one client asked) have anyone “missing them” back home, it’s always important to return them to the place and the population they came from.

Turtles have been leading long, successful, peaceful lives for hundreds of millions of years. The fact that they’re struggling now is on us. It’s time we got to know these quiet, complex neighbors. Because whether they have a future is not up to science; it’s really up to us. And without recognition and understanding, we will continue to make things worse for them, even when we think we’re helping.

• Never reveal the location of a listed species on social media, and remove all location information from photos before posting.

• Help turtles cross roads in the direction they’re headed. Snappers can be dragged across on a car mat if carrying isn’t an option; they will usually move on their own if not threatened.

• Always take an injured turtle to an experienced turtle rehabilitator ASAP, no matter how small or large the injury.

• Never take a wild turtle home as a pet; it’s illegal, the turtle will become unreleasable and may live as long as you do, and the loss of even one individual can damage a population.

• Raise mower blades as high as possible and always mow from the center out to give animals a chance to escape.

• It’s illegal to interfere with nesting turtles or their nests. If you accidentally dig up a turtle nest, don’t try to rebury it. Call a rehabilitator who can incubate the eggs.

• Old political signs can be recycled as turtle crossing signs and reused every year May through July.

Musk turtles, also known as “stinkpots,” are common yet rarely seen, as they seldom leave the water and nest right next to it. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

This painted turtle managed to safely pass the fishing hook she had swallowed—a common injury for this common lake-dwelling species. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Male box turtles typically have red or pink eyes. Females of all species have been known to nest in gravel driveways.Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Snappers are our largest turtles, and can grow to be 40 pounds. They are happiest down in the mud, where their snapping reflex is necessary to catch food swimming by overhead. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Wood turtles are so named because of the rough, woody appearance of their shells. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Spotted turtles sometimes spend the hottest days of summer buried underground—sort of the opposite of hibernating.Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Spotted turtles, once the most common species in Connecticut but now protected, may have just a few spots or an entire galaxy of them, and are smaller than painted turtles. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Common snapping turtles can be identified at any age by their long, dinosaur-like tails, and often raise the back of their shells when threatened.Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Eastern painted turtles, now the most common species in Connecticut, are seen everywhere basking together on logs and rocks. Their colorful body stripes and red shell edge designs are unmistakable. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

This female wood turtle was found missing her two front legs, possible the result of a mowing accident when she was foraging in the field during the summer. Knowing when and where to expect turtles helps keep them safe.Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

Connecticut’s only resident marine turtles, diamondback terrapins come in a wide array of patterns and shadings, from dull gray to bright white. While their shells are sometimes mistaken for wood turtles, their head shapes and skin color/texture are completely different. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier

They are always yellow and black but, like snowflakes, no two eastern box turtles are alike. They live near water, but spend most of their time on land—including hibernation.

Diamondback terrapins leave their home estuaries to nest on higher ground along the coast in early summer. Photo courtesy of Pamela Meier