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It is that the time of the year again! Turtles are heading from their summer grounds to hibernation sites. This means that turtles of all ages are crossing roads again!
Our Turtle Crossing Guards are volunteers that monitor high mortality zones on roads, once a day or once a week. All of our Crossing Guards are provided with high visibility vests, pylons, signs and basic training to ensure you can alert drivers and stay safe, as well as record any infractions if needed! When attending your site you can bring a chair to sit and scan the crossing area, or bring binoculars and take a stroll along the road section Currently, we are looking for crossing guards (where we have permits to occupy roadsides this year) in Haliburton, Peterborough, and City of Kawartha Lakes. Do you have time to help? Register here
FUN FACTS:
1.Turtles stop eating before entering hibernation because in cold temperatures, their metabolism is almost nill! During this time their guts must be free from any food to ensure it doesn't rot and harm them. 2. In Ontario, freshwater turtles will hibernate within 1 meter of where they hibernated the year before. Hibernation sites are often small still-water wetlands.
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Hatchlings are out
and about!
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5500 eggs and thousands of hatchlings later, we now have only one more nest to go and all the babies will have left the building!
In the wild, over 90% of turtle nests are predated within 24 hours of being laid. This translates into a survival rate of eggs and hatchlings reaching adulthood of about 0.06% or 1 in 1000. With a special permit to excavate and incubate nests in precarious positions (by roadsides and in construction zones), we have given these little ones a greater chance of survival because we have helped them conquer some of their biggest hurdles to survival! Now there is a 0.24% or 1 in 300 chance that the hatchlings will reach adulthood! While that seems abysmal still, it is essential that little hatchlings are released their first two years so that they can make mental pathways to hibernation sites and feeding grounds; pathways that they cannot readily form when they get older. Once a turtle reaches adulthood, the only threat to them is basically human beings...
Thank you to all who called in nests!
Watch for hatchlings on roads in September to October
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Watch out for hatchlings crossing the road!
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Turtle fencing pilot:
Fencing materials are ready to go
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Thanks to our amazing young staff Will and Dakota (who have learned how to weld and have been busy doing so for the later half of the summer) we are almost ready to install our turtle fencing in Haliburton! For the next step, we will be reviewing installation plans with the roads department to ensure that we can maintain the integrity of the road in our installations and choose a good site (out of 8 feasible and priority sites - there are over 95 potential underpass sites where existing culverts can be used as pathways for moving turtles, in the county and over 900 across the region). Therefore, our projected installation dates are in mid October. We will keep you posted!
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How do we know how old Grace is?
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Have you heard about Grace, the ancient snapping turtle that moves about in downtown Haliburton? She is estimated to be over 125 years old! How do we know this? It is not only because of the accounts from many local families who have spotted her in the 1970's when they went to high-school, or those families that live on Kashagawigamog Lake that have measured her each year for the past 20 years, or people whose grandparents knew her when they went to Haliburton Secondary School (there have indeed been many local stories of Grace); instead, we know this because of an amazing study conducted over 40 years by a renowned scientist name Dr. Ron Brooks, and with his associate Dr. Doug Armstrong.
These gentlemen conducted the longest study of turtle aging in North America, with the study taking place in and around Algonquin Park! For their research they measured hundreds of turtles of known ages and tracked them each year for 40 years to uncover their growth rates. With statistical corrections, the research is encompassed in a graph that shows the size for female and male snapper and box-shaped turtles to the approximate approximate age of the turtle. A female turtle the size of Grace is estimated to be anywhere from 125 years to over 275 years old! Read their research and see the sizing charts here (link)
This is not the only amazing fact however; what's more is that smaller turtles (painted, Blanding's, Spotted etc.) actually live longer than our large snapper friends! Small turtles can live to over 400 years! This may be surprising to us, but Indigenous people across the world, from Asia to North America have long indicated that turtles could live 1000 years. This may very well be true, but we have no way of proving or truly knowing this. There are a few testaments to ancient turtles that were known to be at least 135 years old as they were owned by Emperors of China and passed down through the Dynasties. There are also other accounts of ancient snappers that had met their fate on highways, and where an autopsy revealed a musket ball that was thought to be from the war of 1812. Therefore, we can only muse at how old Grace truly is...
While the exploration by Dr. Brooks and Armstrong was an amazing feat and has provided insight into turtle growth rates and aging, the actually sizing of turtles as it corresponds to their age is only relevant in this region/parallel. As you move south where it is warmer, turtles tend to grow faster/bigger.
Now you can help turtles like Grace make it to their hibernation sites safely (Turtles hibernate within 1 meter of where they did the year before). Turtles will be making their way to hibernation sites starting in mid September to October. Crossing Guards are volunteers that sit or walk high traffic, high turtle-activity, crossing areas for 1- 3 hours each morning and evening when traffic is at the highest. Crossing Guards can look out for Grace too in Haliburton.
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We were on the news!
Watch our wonderful Founder and COO Leora Berman speak about our turtle egg incubation program on Global News.
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Where are all the turtles?
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Where are all the turtles? Our staff and Coordinator have noticed less turtles this year, and many members of the public have noticed too. While turtle populations are extremely difficult to quantify, and certainty about changes are hard to determine, it is known that turtles take decades to replace themselves in nature (this is known as the recruitment rate for the species, which is extremely low). Therefore, populations cannot sustain themselves with the levels of road mortality currently encountered. The map above is of dead turtles observed by our staff over two summers. These numbers are staggering, but what is more concerning is that most of our observations were made during small windows of only approximately 3 hours and 3 times a week for the season! Turtle carcasses often get "tossed" into the ditches as they are hit, or are dragged off roads by predators and scavengers. Moreover, our staff only stop at wetland areas and do not walk the entire length of the roads. Unfortunately, it is very likely that the numbers we have reported are only a fraction of the total road mortality that turtle populations are experiencing. However, turtle behavior is also affected by temperature, moisture, and barometric pressure- this year the scales have been up and down. Therefore, we cannot say for certain what the total tally is for mortality rates or what percentages exist for local populations, our instincts aren't necessarily wrong, and we need to be cautious regardless of empirical data.
So what can we do to help?
First of all each and every person can become educated about turtles and the threats they face (their life cycle, behavior and biology). You can do this by becoming a Turtle Guardian or perusing our website! We also have many teaching tools on our website, YouTube channel, and we even have a TikTok account. More ways how you can help are listed below:
- When driving in the countryside, even on highways, be aware that there may be turtles on the road.
- Turtles cannot be "relocated" to new areas readily or successfully
- Let us know where you spot turtles by reporting them to our iNaturalist project. This will help us to estimate where we can install retrofits, including fencing to direct turtles under roads, speed bumps, signage or even billboards. See our iNaturalist project to report turtles
- You can also help protect turtles now by becoming a Road Researcher and/or Crossing Guard or next year, by becoming a Nest Sitter or installing nest cage protector!. Check our our volunteering opportunities
- Turtle Guardians is currently campaigning and raising funds to install awareness billboard signs across the region, and working with road departments to install signage, temporary speed bumps, and to explore other mitigation measures. Help us raise funds to raise awareness!
- Preserving wetland and shoreland habitats is also essential, as habitat loss is the second largest threat to the populations of our ancient relatives. You can learn how to naturalize your shoreland with The Land Between (our parent charity)
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School curricula for elementary students
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Now you can learn math, geography, indigenous studies, and social studies with the help of Turtle Guardians. Curricula meet Ontario School expectations!
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A handy guide on how to help turtles
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Ever find a turtle, but you are unsure of what to do next? Snap a photo of our handy guide and follow the steps whenever you encounter a on the road turtle!
What about an injured turtle?
If you find an injured turtle take note of its location, and please call the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre at 705-741-5000. For more information please click the button below:
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How can you help support us?
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