State wildlife officials to release more than 100 endangered turtles

HANSON, Mass — State wildlife officials are planning to release more than 100 endangered turtles that have been raised in a program that tries to help them survive past the early months of their lives.

Division of Fisheries and Wildlife officials will release the Northern Red-bellied Cooter hatchlings on Tuesday at Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson.

The endangered hatchlings were removed from the wild last fall. Then, as part of a program called "Headstarting," they were paired with various educational and scientific facilities, which raised them in warm environments with unlimited food.

That allows the turtles to grow faster, making them less vulnerable to predators when they're released.

The turtle can grow to 10 pounds and a foot in length. In Massachusetts, they're found only in ponds in Plymouth County.





Source:  The Republic

World Turtle Day 2012 Is Coming!

World Turtle Day, sponsored every year since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, was established to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises. Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, including dressing up as turtles, assisting turtles crossing roadways (when conditions are safe), and taking part in research activities (such as citizen science volunteer programs).

Box Turtles and the Endangered Species Act

The box turtle's domed carapace is hinged at either end allowing it to box in its head and tail safe from marauding claws. This adaptation and its brown and tawny camouflage have served it well, individuals often living 80 years or more. Then we came with our roads and vehicles crisscrossing its habitat so fast we rarely notice its spring mate-searching or egg-laying journeys. Terrestrial by nature, it will cross roads more often than a painted turtle which finds its mate in the water and swims, feeds, and basks there all summer. Most box turtles spend their days feeding on plant and animal life within 2 to 8 acres of woods or fields returning to a bedding place every night, burrowing into the leaf litter come winter; a few wander long distances.

Usually in May or June, as long as four years after mating, the female (her underside is flat, his slightly concave) travels, as much as a mile, to open sandy ground to dig a hole for her eggs, usually four to six. These will hatch in two to three months. The hatchlings head out in search of food, such as beetles and caterpillars; as they grow older adding plants and mushrooms.

Hungry foxes, coyotes, skunks or raccoons devour many of the eggs. They too must eat, but we have tipped the balance, our suburban landscape and garbage encouraging skunks and raccoons to proliferate and allowing coyotes to be added to the mix.

About 10 years ago a long-time Lakevillian reported to the Planning Board that he had once spotted 30 box turtles on the acreage of a proposed development. A few months later the bulldozers began. I visited and found a box turtle on a pile of dirt, an intersection to be. I moved him, but turtles always resume their intended journeys so who knows where he went. Hopefully, if he survived construction and traffic, he is not trapped in a box in someone's kitchen, cursed by his physical charm.

Must every tract of open land that gets developed bring box turtles closer to disappearing from Lakeville where once they were plentiful? To the delight of some, dismay of others, our legislature passed the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) in 1990 hoping we might share land with its older inhabitants. As with most laws, the process of establishing and administering regulations is complicated and sometimes contentious. Someone must determine which creatures are dangerously declining. (Box turtles have been classified as a "species of special concern.") Next, the areas where the creature still lives must be determined. Then, based on biologists' searches and citizens' reported sightings, the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program draws polygons on regulatory maps indicating the creature's habitat. Periodically these maps are revised with new information. If someone wants to construct a significant project within one of these polygons, his plans must be sent to NHESP where biologists will puzzle out if the project will be detrimental to the protected creature. If so, they will work with the applicant to figure out how the project and the creature can coexist.

Such regulations seem onerous in the context of property rights, but water and wildlife do not accept our boundaries. We can be proud to live in a state where we are keeping this in mind.

For more information on turtles, MESA, and how to report a box turtle sighting see:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/species_info/nhfacts/terrapene_carolina.pdf

http://www.massaudubon.org/printwildlife.php?id=61


Year of the Turtle, David Caroll



Source:  http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120510/PUB04/205100381

Turtle Roadway Mortality Monitoring Program

Citizen Scientists Needed To Monitor Turtle Crossings

Turtles have existed for millions of years, but roadways are threatening the survival of local populations.  Turtles in Massachusetts often cross roadways late spring to early fall and are vulnerable to car collisions.  Ambitious citizen scientists, turtle enthusiasts, and conservation organizations are encouraged to join state wildlife and transportation personnel in collecting data for the Turtle Roadway Mortality Monitoring Program.  Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife, a recent partnership between the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW), Department of Transportation (DOT) Highway Division and UMass-Amherst, trained volunteers to collect data in 2010 and is expanding its volunteer program by offering two citizen scientist information and training sessions in Amherst and Westborough. These sessions are designed to train new volunteers, acknowledge current volunteer efforts, and share results from the first year of data collection. The information gathered through this volunteer effort will be used to coordinate local turtle conservation efforts.

The information and training session will be held on Wednesday, May 16^th, 2012 at the United Methodist Church, 6 Holmes Road in Lenox starting at 6:30 pm.  The event will be cosponsored by Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and Project Native.  The sessions are free, but pre-registration is required.  Interested volunteers can register with Dave Paulson at David.Paulson@state.ma.us or call him at (508) 389-6366.

Light refreshments will be provided.

For additional information please contact:

David Paulson, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, MassWildlife
David.Paulson@state.ma.us              508-389-6366

Tim Dexter, Environmental Services Unit, MassDOT Highway Division
Timothy.Dexter@state.ma.us            617-973-8306

Turtles Gone Wild

Wareham Free Library to host ‘Turtles Gone Wild’ May 3rd

WAREHAM —
Through the magic of digital media, Don Lewis and Sue Wieber Nourse - the Turtle Journal Team - will transform the Wareham Free Library into a reptilian paradise, with the presentation of “Turtles Gone Wild” on May 3 at 6:30 p.m., so kids from 5 to 105 can experience firsthand the hair-raising excitement of adventure and discovery.
They say participants will cast off the ordinary world of bricks and mortar, climb inside a dazzling sound and light show, and unleash their inner explorer.
The audience can watch as turtles wake from winter slumber, bask in bright spring sunshine and turn thoughts to creating the next generation of reptiles.
“You’ll hide in camouflage to observe female turtles trek across impossible obstacles to reach nesting sites and deposit egg clutches representing the future of threatened turtles on the SouthCoast. You’ll fast-forward as hatchlings emerge from the sand to take their first breath as they scramble to safety. You’ll uncover secrets about what makes these shelled critters such wild and wonderful telltale species of our natural world.  As turtle populations tumble, so goes the quality of life around us. As turtles prosper, so does the richness of our own world, too.
“Along our ocean coast, you’ll come face to face with five species of sea turtles that frequent Massachusetts waters. You’ll rescue a half-ton leviathan, a massive female leatherback, entangled in buoy lines and fighting for her life. You’ll patrol storm tossed beaches to rescue hundreds of the most endangered sea turtles in the world.”
Lewis serves as the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts.  Also known as “The Turtle Guy,” his research and rescue exploits have been featured on National Geographic TV and his work has been profiled in books on global animal rescue, endangered wildlife management and habitat preservation.
 Nourse, research scientist and master educator, is CEO of Cape Cod Consultants, an environmental solutions company specializing in wildlife management and critical habitat assessments that protect nature while expeditiously enabling client objectives. An intrepid adventurer, she led underwater research projects from the Canaries through the Caribbean Sea to the Hawaiian Islands, and from the Florida Keys through the Bahamas to Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine.
Their original nature stories and professional wildlife photography have appeared in newspapers, magazines and broadcast media locally, across the nation and around the globe. They document the nature of coastal Massachusetts on their website, Turtle Journal (www.turtlejournal.com), and they share real-time adventures directly from the wild on Twitter (www.twitter.com/turtlejournal).



Source: Wareham Free Library to host ‘Turtles Gone Wild’ May 3 - Wareham, MA - Wicked Local Wareham http://www.wickedlocal.com/wareham/news/education/x596784724/Wareham-Free-Library-to-host-Turtles-Gone-Wild-May-3#ixzz1tH1J7z3D

Turtle Crossings

About Town: Signs of the Times

Turtle Crossing signs installed around town, Community Gardens in full swing.


Concord, Massachusetts | April 24, 2012

The town's highway department and staff and students at Thoreau School organized signage be posted to protect Blanding's turtles.Credit MaureenC.Belt

Once again Concord raises the bar in terms of conservation. A few weeks ago, the Concord Public Works Highway Division, in collaboration with the staff and kids at Thoreau School, placed signs warning motorists to slow down.

And what better to symbolize “slow” than an image of a turtle. Four
Turtle Crossing Signs were installed around town to protect Blanding’s turtles who may be negligent about looking both ways before crossing streets to seek out soul mates. It is mating season for the species, which is considered nearly endangered in Massachusetts, as their habitats become infringed upon and predators destroy their nesting sites.

The turtles mate through May and begin nesting in June. The new signs will be located on Monsen Road, the Peter Spring and Cranefield Road intersection, the intersection of Butternut Circle and Mallard Drive, - where this photo was taken - and Minuteman Drive. Congratulations to the Thoreau School and our town government for protecting the Blanding’s Turtle!

Field Hands

Last week I noticed the Community Gardens are in full swing again. Plots are being hoed, seeds planted and compost bins are dotting the landscape across from the courthouse on Walden Street. Pretty soon I’ll be posting pictures of the glorious sunflowers that will bloom here at the Hugh Cargill Community Gardens. Not bad for a piece of land that once boasted the Poor House. Best of luck to all the gardeners.

That’s it for now, so ‘til Tuesday …

Don’t forget Stefanie’s column on Thursday!

Do you have something you would like to share? Contact me at mcb23@comcast.net or Stefanie at stefanieac@comcast.net and we will be happy to help you spread the good news. And follow us on Twitter: Stefanie is @stefanie3131 and I am @cosmo1162.


Source: ConcordPatch

Three outbreaks, three Salmonella strains, all linked to small turtles: CDC Continue reading on Examiner.com Three outbreaks, three Salmonella strain

Pet turtles have long been recognized as a major source of human Salmonella infection. Turtles are usually healthy carriers of Salmonella that shed the organism on an irregular basis in their feces.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday an investigation of three multistate Salmonella outbreaks linked to exposure to turtles or their environments

The three overlapping outbreaks involve three different strains of the Salmonella bacterium.

In total, as of Friday, 66 people, more than half under 10 years old, have been reported infected from 16 states.

Eleven of the victims required hospitalization for their illness. No deaths have been reported.

Salmonella Sandiego outbreak: To date, 45 individuals have been infected with this strain in 10 states (California-3, Georgia-1, Massachusetts-2, Maryland-5, New Jersey-5, New Mexico-3, New York-18, North Carolina-1, Pennsylvania6, and Virginia-1).

Continue reading on Examiner.com Three outbreaks, three Salmonella strains, all linked to small turtles: CDC - National infectious disease | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/infectious-disease-in-national/three-outbreaks-three-salmonella-strains-all-linked-to-small-turtles-cdc#ixzz1qu4BiXXx