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Rescuing turtles in Collingwood
04 October 2009
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We came across a litter of baby snapping turtles on our walk, today.
Unexpected to find them hatching at this late time of the year and heading out onto land. I would have expected them to winter in the nest.
We had walked along the trail through Harbourview Park, Sunday afternoon, crossing over to the mall, and were headed to the back of Canadian Tire to catch the trail at the bridge there and continue on. Just in front of us, a bicyclist had stopped. She was picking up something from the ground. She showed it to us as we approached.
It was a baby turtle. I recognized it as the common snapping turtle - Chelydra serpentina. Even at this young age and small size, the prehistoric beauty of these turtles is easy to recognize. Of course, at this age they were too small to be aggressive. An adult snapping turtle can tear flesh very nastily, and is surprisingly fast and agile. They are quick to attack and defend themselves aggressively. A large snapper has jaws I'm sure could sever a finger carelessly waved in front of it.
We've found adults before, mostly on back roads near the waterfront, and have moved them - carefully - over the road in their direction of travel. That thick armour wasn't designed to withstand a speeding SUV. You have to be very careful with snappers - aside from their unexpected speed, reach and generally nasty disposition, they also will squirt unpleasant-smelling musk or feces at you. Or both.
You cannot hold them by their tail without doing potential damage to their spines, so I've wrapped them in a dog blanket we keep in the car, then gingerly carried that across the road, to release the turtle there.
Susan and I carefully scoured the area where the first baby was found - in the parking lot and on the land nearby. Over the next 30 or so minutes, we found eight more on the grass, all within about 10 metres of a suspicious hole in the ground. That was likely where the eggs were buried - we didn't dig to confirm our suspicions. All of the babies were covered with sandy soil, too, an indication they were not long from the nest.
The babies were all about the size of those shown in the photo, above. That picture is from another Website, but is a good indicator of the size. A bit too large to be eaten by fish, they could still be prey to raccoons, coyotes and some birds.
I picked up the nine of them and we worked our way down to Black Ash Creek, where I placed them at the water's edge. Four immediately started inching towards the water and soon were swimming in the creek and lost from sight. One other started the journey a few minutes later. I left four of the rest alive, but huddled on the shore, a few inches of easy travel from safe water. I was confident they'd make their way to safely soon enough.
Snapping turtles are not my favourite creature, and hardly anyone would ever want one as a pet. But I figure they have as much - if not more - right to be here as any of us do. Helping the babies survive was, I believe, the right thing to do. And it made for an entertaining, interesting afternoon.[/indent]
Unexpected to find them hatching at this late time of the year and heading out onto land. I would have expected them to winter in the nest.
We had walked along the trail through Harbourview Park, Sunday afternoon, crossing over to the mall, and were headed to the back of Canadian Tire to catch the trail at the bridge there and continue on. Just in front of us, a bicyclist had stopped. She was picking up something from the ground. She showed it to us as we approached.
It was a baby turtle. I recognized it as the common snapping turtle - Chelydra serpentina. Even at this young age and small size, the prehistoric beauty of these turtles is easy to recognize. Of course, at this age they were too small to be aggressive. An adult snapping turtle can tear flesh very nastily, and is surprisingly fast and agile. They are quick to attack and defend themselves aggressively. A large snapper has jaws I'm sure could sever a finger carelessly waved in front of it.
We've found adults before, mostly on back roads near the waterfront, and have moved them - carefully - over the road in their direction of travel. That thick armour wasn't designed to withstand a speeding SUV. You have to be very careful with snappers - aside from their unexpected speed, reach and generally nasty disposition, they also will squirt unpleasant-smelling musk or feces at you. Or both.
You cannot hold them by their tail without doing potential damage to their spines, so I've wrapped them in a dog blanket we keep in the car, then gingerly carried that across the road, to release the turtle there.
Susan and I carefully scoured the area where the first baby was found - in the parking lot and on the land nearby. Over the next 30 or so minutes, we found eight more on the grass, all within about 10 metres of a suspicious hole in the ground. That was likely where the eggs were buried - we didn't dig to confirm our suspicions. All of the babies were covered with sandy soil, too, an indication they were not long from the nest.
The babies were all about the size of those shown in the photo, above. That picture is from another Website, but is a good indicator of the size. A bit too large to be eaten by fish, they could still be prey to raccoons, coyotes and some birds.
I picked up the nine of them and we worked our way down to Black Ash Creek, where I placed them at the water's edge. Four immediately started inching towards the water and soon were swimming in the creek and lost from sight. One other started the journey a few minutes later. I left four of the rest alive, but huddled on the shore, a few inches of easy travel from safe water. I was confident they'd make their way to safely soon enough.
Snapping turtles are not my favourite creature, and hardly anyone would ever want one as a pet. But I figure they have as much - if not more - right to be here as any of us do. Helping the babies survive was, I believe, the right thing to do. And it made for an entertaining, interesting afternoon.[/indent]
