Share With A Friend!
You are the best! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️
One of the things that I love about what I do is talking with experts in the field that are helping animals of all shapes and sizes. I’m in awe of how many people spend their life caring for animals all around the world. From massive beasts to tiny critters, each one has a purpose and connection to the ecosystem and to us. This past week I was able to talk with Danielle O’Dell, an Ecologist for the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. One of the animals they care for is the Spotted Turtle! An endangered species in much of the USA, but they have created a safe haven that helps protect and prosper this turtle and other animals in the local area.
A: In Massachusetts, the spotted turtle is actually not listed as endangered. It used to be listed as Species of Special Concern but was delisted in 2006. There is currently some concern regionally that it should be re-listed as it is relatively uncommon and definitely threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, and collection for the pet trade. I do work with some other endangered species (Northern long-eared bats) but in general, I am a wildlife biologist and am interested in both endangered and common animals. In fact, I think that often the common things are overlooked as interesting species to study due to their ubiquity – I think this is a big mistake as you just never know what may happen. In the case of the Northern long-eared bat, for example, it was once one of the most common bat species in New England, but populations have now been decimated by White-nose Syndrome. No one paid much attention to it because it was so common – now, we’re scrambling to answer basic ecological questions about the species that are now considered high risk for extinction!
A: In the early spring, we begin setting traps and conducting searches for spotted turtles in wetlands across Nantucket. Right now, we’re focusing on populations at an abandoned cranberry bog. Soon, we will begin placing radio transmitters on the turtles in order to follow them several times a week to learn about how they use habitat throughout the year, and where they may be hibernating.
A: Nantucket Island has nearly 50% of its land in conservation or protection of some sort. We have some fairly robust populations of spotted turtles because of lots of contiguous habitats. We regularly are assessing the status of their populations on several of our properties to make sure that we are continuing to maintain appropriate levels of habitat for them. We also mark every turtle we catch with unique numbering codes so that we can keep track of recaptures over the years. Some of our turtles marked in the early 90s are still being captured now!
A: They are all individuals – some are shy and hide in their shell immediately upon capture, some hiss, some are super strong and will do anything to try to get away from you. They love mucky, muddy, shrubby wetlands and bogs here.
A: I have a few memorable moments – one early spring, with my colleague Kelly Omand, we were searching for turtles in a cattail marsh and it just happened to be a banner year for hatchling spotted turtles. We were inundated with about the cutest, tiniest spotted turtles!
Another hot, humid summer day, I remember trying to track a spotted turtle through the densest shrubbiest muckiest shrub swamp – I was being cut up by greenbrier, hung up by grapevines, covered in mud, leaves, and sticks in my hair, and I was completely lost trying to track these buggers with an antenna and receiver in your hand, in those conditions tests ones patience for sure. Then the sky opened up and just started to downpour. I’m pretty sure I shed a few tears of frustration that day… but I eventually found the turtle I was after, and made it out of the swamp safely – and spotted turtles are still my favorite and I love them, and love the trials and tribulations of my job. They have taken me to some incredibly beautiful, isolated, untouched wetlands that are just stunning.
A: They can be quite common (relatively speaking) but very infrequently encountered – they don’t bask like painted turtles do, and aren’t typically found in open water or large ponds – so people rarely see them. They prefer really boggy spots where people rarely go. They can live quite a long time – we have some turtles who are at least 40 years old on Nantucket.
A: Definitely habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, road mortality, and collection for the pet trade. They are beautiful turtles that are highly sought after. One of the biggest challenges is road mortality here – just getting people to slow down and pay attention when driving. Because these turtles are so long-lived, and they don’t reach sexual maturity until about 10 years old, and only lay a few eggs per year… hitting one female turtle on the road can cause quite a large loss to the population.
A: I think most people like turtles in general – for the most part, they seem relatively harmless and, frankly, cute to most people. I’ve only ever met one single person who expressed a dislike for turtles. But when people ask why should they care – I say what I said in the previous answer – about how long they live, and how bad it can be for populations when you remove an individual. And they are part of the incredible biodiversity of this planet. You should care simply because they are part of the web of incredible life on this planet.
A: If you specifically earmark a donation to the Science and Stewardship Department of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, your money will go into the Science budget to help us not only study spotted turtles but other rare and endangered plants and animals. We are so lucky as a land trust to have a year-round staff of amazing scientists studying birds, insects, small mammals, bats, plants, salt marsh ecology, restoration ecology, endangered ecosystems such as the globally rare sandplain grasslands… just to name a few highlights.
Learn MORE about spotted turtles by checking out my post ‘About Spotted Turtles’.
Make sure to follow the Nantucket Conservation Foundation (Facebook and Instagram) to get updates on their work!
And make sure to snag your very own Spotted Turtle print! 50% will go directly to the organization Danielle works with (Nantucket Conservation Foundation) to help the turtles and other local wildlife!
If you’ve never heard of a spotted turtle or learned something new from this Q&A with Danielle, comment below! I’d love to hear from you!
Photo Credit: Danielle O’Dell with the Nantucket Conservation Foundation
You are the best! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️