by Shannon Fischer
Turtles are on the move across Wayland – female turtles are traveling to and from nesting sites; other turtles are migrating from their winter pools to their summer ponds and baby painted turtles who hatched last summer are starting their first journey to the water.
While turtles are supremely resilient – the ancestors of these ancient animals survived asteroid strikes and ice ages – modern perils, namely roads, are taking a heavy toll.
Bernard was one such painted turtle hatchling found injured near the Sedgemeadow Conservation Area in late April. A sharp-eyed Wayland resident scooped him up and contacted wildlife rehabilitator Lauren Ulm who happily took the tiny turtle in, dressed his wounds and started him on a course of antibiotics. He will remain in care for a few more weeks while his shell knits back together.
In the meantime, he will be a new ambassador for the Wayland Conservation Department to spread the word for his species as his recovery journey is chronicled through the Wayland Conservation email list.
Turtle in turmoil
Six out of the 10 turtle species native to Massachusetts are already listed as threatened, endangered or of special concern, and some unlisted populations species, like snapping turtles, are decreasing too. A lot of this is due to roads. Those amazing shells that protected adult turtles from most predators for 250 million years are simply no match for the immense speed and weight of a car. A study of one Ontario wetland bisected by a road found that between 1985 and 2002, snapping turtles plummeted from 941 to just 177 individuals. But it’s also habitat loss, climate change and illegal markets that sweep up turtles by the thousands to grind into snake-oil promises of virility and anti-aging.
“The turtles can’t keep up,” Natasha Nowick, co-founder of the Turtle Rescue League. It takes a snapping turtle 15 to 20 years to lay her first nest, Nowick explains, and then another 15 to 20 years before any of her surviving children lay their own eggs.
Environmental impact
Turtles are worth saving. They’re so important to healthy ecosystems that some are considered keystone species in their environments. They disperse seeds, stabilize coastal dunes, create habitat and may even help restore already degraded ecosystems. Our native snapping turtles help keep our watersheds clean by scavenging diseased and decaying matter, purifying it in their hardy guts. “They’re cleaning up what otherwise would be a disease-infested bottom of our ponds,” explains Michaela Conder, who helps operate the Turtle Rescue League. “If you want to stop a bacterial outbreak in a pond, make sure you have plenty of snapping turtles.” Painted turtles like Bernard help cycle nutrients, balance food webs and control algae.
Beyond what they do for us, turtles are also thinking, living beings. Our native wood turtle can quickly master mazes, and more than a few of the Turtle Rescue League’s patients have jailbroken from their tanks and flawlessly navigated towards out-of-sight exits. Turtles feel fear, stress, but also sociability and playfulness. In her book, Of Time and Turtles, Sy Montgomery describes a painted turtle that enticed her human into games of keep-away, “like a puppy with a stolen sock, teasing the owner to chase after her.”
Community support
But Bernard’s story carries a hopeful message: Turtles can be helped! They are much more resilient and capable of healing than we often think. Nowick’s Turtle Rescue League is a Massachusetts-based organization with a network of rehabilitators across the state, including Bernard’s carer, Ulm. They have spent 15 years successfully nursing turtles back to health from cracked and shattered shells, torn feet, broken jaws, poachers’ hooks and even damaged nerves and paralysis.
You can be a part of this solution. If you see a turtle crossing a road, pull over (safely!) and carry them across in the direction they were heading. Even big snapping turtles can be moved by shifting them onto a car floor mat and dragging (be sure the turtle is facing her original direction at the end). Or you can pick them up by the shell behind their back legs, or lift them from beneath, like a pizza box, with one hand stabilizing their shell. Always approach a snapper from behind, and never grab by the tail. You can neutralize their defensive snap by tossing a towel over their head. “Once a snapping turtle is under a towel, they’re as confused as a dog that you tossed a blanket over,” Nowick says.
If you see an injured turtle on the road or in your yard, that turtle may very much still have a chance even if the injuries look severe. In this case, gently remove the turtle from traffic and contain it if possible. A dry cardboard box works great. Don’t assume a turtle is dead just because it’s not moving; it may be in shock. Try to stay with or bring the turtle with you as just reporting a hit then leaving makes it harder to coordinate rehabilitators
After containing the turtle, contact the Turtle Rescue League via their website form: turtlerescueleague.org/rescue (preferred) or call their hotline at (508) 404-7887. Contact the TRL if you see a nest in peril (e.g. construction), or a deceased/injured gravid female. TRL can recover and incubate the eggs. Additional guidance can be found on the TRL website.
In many myths across many cultures, the world is supported on the back of a turtle. It’s apt, given how their profound ecosystem impacts shaped the world we live in. But now, turtles need our support. So this spring and summer, please drive carefully and consider pulling over to help turtles, whether that means giving a healthy turtle a lift, or contacting the TRL if the turtle is injured. Because of turtle’s long lives, saving one means helping multiple generations of future turtles!
In the meantime, sign up to the Conservation Email list, where we will continue to chronicle Bernard’s recovery! Ulm is delighted to report he’s learned to drink from a glass of water, sparing him subcutaneous fluid injections. We expect to soon share news of his first swims, with adorable photographic and video evidence.
