Time again for another blog. It is full swing in nature activity and you can see it all around you. There is a particular group of animals that are moving all over the place: Turtles.
Turtles are a really neat and unique group of animals that are ectotherms; cold-blooded. They are reptiles and have the distinctive shell and are generally slower in movement than many other animals, though many of the aquatic turtles can be rather quick in the water.
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| E. Mud Turtle. Photo by ME. |
During the warmer months, you can often see turtles by simply going to a pond or some other wetland and observe 1 or more often times than not, multiple turtles basking on fallen tree logs that are sticking out of the water. Sometimes turtles will bask right on top of another. Why they bask you might ask? well, it is because they are ectotherms and they need the sunlight to warm themselves up.
Not all turtles are entirely aquatic; even those that are, come onto land at some point to bask and/or reproduce. Snapping turtles are aquatic turtles that do not often come onto land and bask. Sometimes you can observe them floating on the surface, sort of "bask." Eastern Box Turtles are North Carolina's prime example of a non aquatic turtle that mostly spends time on land. However, they can sometimes be found "soaking" in shallow pools of water.
Pictured below is a Common Snapping Turtle.
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| Photo by ME. |
Pictured below is an Eastern Box Turtle
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| Photo by ME. |
Now that we have learned some basic things about turtles, let us now learn about how to help these animals.
It is neat how turtles are such recognizable animals to so many people. It is also great how people like to help turtles when these animals seem to be in distress. If you help turtles, good for you, that is great!
However, even when people mean well and want to help turtles, sometimes "helping" them, can actually do more harm than good. First off according to the book Turtles of The Southeast, authors Kurt Buhlmann, Tracey Tuberville, and Whit Gibbons write: "Most people's outdoor experience with turtles involve seeing them basking on logs or rocks along a river or pond, or finding them crossing a road." Sometimes, you may find a turtle in your yard.
In regards to helping turtles when they are crossing roads, let us first see why turtles cross roads to begin with. Well, Buhlmann, Tuberville, and Gibbons go on to write: " A turtle crossing a road usually has a purpose. Most turtles that live in isolated wetlands mate in late winter and early spring, and males move from one body of water to another in search of females... Later in the season, especially in late spring and early summer, females leave the water to find nesting sites and frequently have to cross a road to reach a suitable site...In late summer and early spring, hatchling turtles travel from the nearest to the nearest wetland." So, turtles cross roads to find mates, wetlands, to lay eggs, and even find new territory.
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| Hatchling E. Mud Turtles |
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| Turtle egg shell. Photo by ME. |
In regards to helping these reptiles, there are some things you can do that can help them. There are some things that people who mean well, do that hurts the animals more than helps. So let us learn more about that.
First of all, it is great if you stop and move a turtle across the road in order to save it. If you do stop, make sure it is safe; do not put yourself or others in danger. Make sure you pull off to the side of the road and make sure there are not any cars coming. Also, look for cars before you walk out into the road.
An important thing to remember about helping turtles: Move the turtle to the side of the road the turtle was walking to when you discovered it. If you just move the turtle back, further into the woods or wetlands of the side the turtle is or was just coming from, the turtle is just going to try and cross the road again.
Being alert while driving can certainly help turtles; for one thing you can be alerted to a turtle crossing. Also, being alert, will help decrease the chances of being surprised by a crossing turtle and help you avoid hitting it. Of course being alert can help you be aware of other drivers who may swerve around a turtle or even stop for a turtle. Another thing, there are people out there who will sadly go out of their way to run over animals; turtles included, so BE CAREFUL.
Another way to help turtles, is to look for ways to help protect habitat or even create habitat for them. One of the reasons you see turtles in the road and often run over, is due to development of houses, roads, ect. Building a pond or a wetland of kind can be helpful in helping turtles as it can give them a place to live as they are losing places to live. Creating habitat in your yard can also give them a place to lay their eggs and so forth.
A interesting thing about turtles is that they remember the location of where they hatched out of eggs at and do have a range or territory to some extent. It is critical that you do NOT take them out of the general area you found them in ( unless the area is completely developed and the animal is pretty much toast. Then you might want to call a museum or park or some other organization to see how to proceed),
Taking the turtle of the range you found it in ( unless it is completely developed ( i.e. busy roads, lots of houses, no where really for this turtle to go with out getting killed) ( again, consult someone in this situation), Can be a death sentence for the turtle. If you take them away, they will try to get back to that range and may starve to death or even get run over in the process. I will talk a little more on this later in the blog.
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| E. Box Turtle. Photo by ME. |
Another thing that is NOT recommended when helping a turtle cross the road, is simply taking the turtle home. There various reasons why you should not take the animal home, but I will cover that a little later in the blog. It is best covered under what to do if you find a turtle in your yard.
Again, before we move on, be careful when helping turtles cross the road; stay safe. Be mindful that from time to time snapping turtles cross the road, so you will certainly want to be careful in dealing with them.
The next thing we will learn about, is what do you do if you find a baby turtle?
Well, it depends really on where you find it. Generally, it is best to enjoy observing it and look at it, but also leave it where it is ( unless it is in the middle of the road, then move it across if it is safe to do so).
If you find the hatchling ( baby) turtle in your yard, either it has hatched from a nest that was there, the little critter is passing through to get to a body of water or other habitat depending on the species. Or it could be your yard is the habitat or territory your turtle is going to.
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| Juv. Yellow-bellied Slider. Photo by ME. |
However, if you do find a hatchling turtle in a heavy developed area and you are uncertain what to do, then it is recommended to consult somebody. A park or a museum, or wildlife commission or research on the internet. You may want to do some research on the area of where the turtle is found as there probably is some suitable habitat within the turtle's territory. Again, it is not good to remove a wild turtle far from its range from where it is encountered, as the turtle will try to get back to the territory and could face serious problems trying to return.
Again, if there is no suitable habitat nearby, consult some body.
Another thing about taking turtles out of the wild, removing them can be harmful to the population of that species in the region as a whole. Here is why:
Buhlmann, Tuberville, and Gibbons writes: "All turtles take much longer to reach maturity than most other animals... Early maturity is.. generally coupled with a shorter lifespan..." Turtles can live a long time; Red-eared sliders can live around 25-50 years! "Alligator snapping turtles have lived for more than 70 years..." (Turtles of the Southeast). Eastern Box Turtles, given the right conditions, can live up to 100 years! In short, turtles and tortoises both can live a long time!
This means, it takes them longer to reach an age they can reproduce. In fact, "Males of most freshwater turtles including map turtles, painted turtles, and sliders, take a minimum of 4-5 years to reach maturity. As many as 7-10 years seems to be the average for males of... and box turtles...Females of all turtle species require even more time than males to mature." ( Turtles of the Southeast).
So it takes turtles several years before they reach the age they can reproduce. So, taking turtles out of an area can hurt the population.
In regards to keeping turtles as pets, well, first of all it is recommended not getting a turtle as a pet due to the fact they live along time, they can be costly to care for, and especially aquatic turtles, can be smelly. I have two red-eared sliders and they are pretty cool, but they take quite a bit of work.
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| My 2 Sliders. Photo by ME. |
Another problem with people keeping turtles is the fact of the long life span and they get tired of taking care of the turtles. Therefore, the turtles get released. It is a bad idea to release a captive turtle into the wild. The turtle could die from being out competed with other turtles. The temperature in the region could be too much for the turtle to handle, as well as other problems. Red-eared sliders on the other hand, have been released and have taken over a lot of places and have out competed other native wildlife. They have also bred with yellow-bellied sliders and that is causing problems. As the hybrids could completely replace the yellow-bellied sliders.
So, turtles are neat pets, but keep in mind that they will be around for a long time. They do take a lot of work and resources too.
I hope you have learned something about how to help your neighborhood turtle. Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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| Red-Bellied Cooter. Photo by ME. |
