Kelly Wallace, managing director and founder of the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative, said her team often starts around 5 a.m. and doesn’t finish until 8 to 10 p.m. The non-profit is based in Bancroft but provides turtle conservation education and assistance across the province. They split their days between answering phone calls, Facebook messages, and emails and doing work out in the field. Every day is different, but they’re often installing nest protectors and coordinating plans to rescue injured turtles. June is typically their busiest time, and this year is no exception despite the inconsistent temperatures.

“It’s got the turtles a bit mixed up because they’re so sensitive to environmental change,” Wallace said. “The snapping turtles, which are pretty much the most sensitive to the environmental change, they’re really just starting to get nesting.”

Every year, turtle conservationists across the province try to plan for the busy season, but it all comes down to the transition between winter and spring, Wallace said. The change between seasons dictates the reproduction timeline, and it’s always different. 

Her team has seen a lot of digging and other activity from snapping turtles, but they haven’t fully settled into nesting. Looking at the weather forecast, a cooler end to June and high temperatures in July are a good indication that most nesting activity will happen over the next few weeks, taper off during cooler temperatures, and pick back up in July.

Climate change has impacted turtle habits in a few ways. One of those is the increased tendency to overwinter in their nests. Turtle hatchlings will remain in an underground nest throughout the winter before emerging from April to early June. The Think Turtle team saw one emerge at the end of last week. It’s yet another testament to this year’s unusual weather patterns, and the heat anticipated next month is expected to have its own effects.

“If we’re going to have a really, really hot summer, then that means that we probably are going to end up having more female hatchlings because the sex is dependent on the temperature,” she said. “There’s more females when it’s hot and then when it’s cooler, there’s more males.”

The same is true in each individual nest. The eggs at the top of the nest that get more sunlight are more likely to be females. In the middle of the nest, it will be a mix of sexes while the eggs toward the bottom are more likely to be male.

Despite the many effects of climate change, one thing has stayed consistent: getting struck by a vehicle remains one of the greatest threats to Ontario’s turtles. As of June 11, the number of intakes at the turtle hospital was 1,128, double what they had at the same time last year. It’s a significant increase that’s both good and bad; the number of injured turtles is shocking, but they’re getting better care than ever before.

One of the biggest things members of the public can do is simply watch the road and surrounding areas for turtles and other wildlife. Road mortality is a major contributor to population decline in turtles and other animals, so though Ontario is lucky to have a turtle hospital, it’s better to reduce the need for their services, especially when it comes to avoidable injuries on the road.

“It’s one of those things where it’s really jarring to think of that many turtles being largely hit by vehicles, but also, it is remarkable the number of people that are helping and stopping and making sure that the turtles get to the turtle hospital,” she said.

For people who want to get more involved in turtle conservation, there are a range of ways to help. People with nests on their property can install nest protectors. Nest protectors are available for purchase across the province and Think Turtle offers instructions on how property owners can make their own.

The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC), home to the turtle hospital in Peterborough, has a network of volunteers called turtle taxi drivers. The drivers help coordinate travel for injured turtles to ensure they receive timely medical attention. Long-distance trips can be split up by multiple volunteers, so volunteers in areas like Muskoka can be a valuable asset.

Another great way to help is by assisting turtles across the road when it’s safe to do so. It’s important to move turtles in the direction they’re already headed; otherwise, they’re likely to double back and cross the road again. When handling turtles, people should wear gloves, hold the turtle low to the ground to avoid damage to their shells if they’re dropped, and never hold turtles by their tails.

Smaller turtles can be picked up by the middle of their shell, but since snappers have such long necks, they should be handled from the back of their shell. Volunteers can either slide their hand under the back of the turtle like a pizza box, put their hands on either side of the tail to lift, or use a shovel to move the animal. 

Locals can help with data collection by reporting turtle sightings in the Simcoe-Muskoka region to the Saving Turtles At Risk Today (S.T.A.R.T.) Turtle Project at 705-955-4284. They take calls for sightings of rare species or nesting females as well as injured or dead turtles.  People can also call the OTCC at 705-741-5000 to report injured turtles.

“When people stop to help an injured turtle and they report it to the turtle hospital, they should make sure that they do that when they’re with the turtle,” Wallace said. “Because once you drive away from the turtle, if it’s injured and if it does actually manage to be mobile enough that they can get back into the wild, the chances of it surviving without medical care, it’s very debatable.”

Remaining at the site gives turtle taxi drivers and other volunteers the best possible opportunity to locate and secure injured turtles. Soon, the turtles may not have to travel so far.

The S.T.A.R.T. Turtle Project collaborates with the Georgian Bay Turtle Hospital. They’re not ready to provide rehabilitative services yet, but they hope to become the second designated turtle hospital in the province to expand options for treatment and to reduce the environmental impact of transporting injured turtles. 

While it’s devastating to see so many injured animals, Wallace said Ontario is lucky to have the resources it does. She started working in turtle conservation in 2016 and founded Think Turtle two years later. In the years since she started, she’s seen a dramatic increase in the number of people who are interested in turtle conservation. 

She said more people are talking about turtles and nature as a whole, so it’s been amazing to see the shift. She’s glad that more and more people are mindful of their time on the road and willing to help turtles along the way, particularly considering the toll humans have taken on their territory.

“We built the roads and basically we fragmented their habitat and their natural corridors,” she said. “We get to hear more and more about people that are stopping safely to help move turtles in the direction they were headed, and that right there, that’s a citizen-based conservation effort that makes such a huge difference.”

For more information about turtle conservation, visit the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative online.

Turtle Hooked On Your Fishing Line? Here’s What To Do

The post Turtle Hospital Sees Record Numbers As Nesting Season Continues appeared first on Muskoka411.

Turtle season spans from April to October each year with most nesting activity occurring in May and June. The eight species of turtles native to Ontario are all designated as species at risk on a provincial and federal level. Turtles are considered a key indicator of an ecosystem’s health and many people don’t know just how valuable they are, said Sue Carstairs, executive and medical director of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) in Peterborough.

“They live in wetlands and wetlands are the filtration system, the kidneys, of our water source, so they’re really valuable to protecting those ecosystems that are meant to be the most biodiverse on the planet,” Carstairs said. 

The OTCC is home to the province’s turtle hospital and a program to incubate and hatch eggs along with providing education and doing field work across Ontario. Earlier this month, the centre announced the launch of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Network, created in partnership with Parks Canada. 

The network is a resource for the public as well as researchers and conservation groups. It shows the various conservation projects and programs across the province and provides contact information to help interested parties get involved. Carstairs said they’ve received some great feedback on the network already, but that’s not the only exciting development at OTCC. 

In hopes of having their property protected and used for conservation purposes, donors Mary and Gerry Young have offered OTCC the use of their property, which is near the current facility. The centre has renovated two existing buildings on the property and they’re raising $3 million to build a 10,000-square-foot facility to house the new hospital, which will include an intensive care unit, a hatchling area and an education centre.

“We’re proceeding with the site plan approval and hoping to break ground later on this summer, so it’s going really well,” Carstairs said. “We’re about three quarters of the way there in what we had hoped to raise.”

The OTCC’s facility is currently in a commercial mall, so while they do a lot with a little, the new facilities will allow all of their services to expand. The hospital at the centre is a teaching hospital, but they can only take one veterinary student at a time right now due to space constraints. 

Along with allowing for more students, the expansion will provide bigger areas for admission, lab and surgery. There were over 1,500 turtles admitted to the hospital last year. They also released 2,250 turtles, raised 2,065 hatchlings and took in 4,991 eggs. Things can get crowded at their current location since they never turn away turtles, so the new building will be better for turtles, staff and volunteers alike. 

The OTCC is registered charity and relies on donations to operate, so everything counts, Carstairs said. Whether it’s making a financial contribution, donating from their wishlist or even helping a turtle cross the road, it all makes a difference. For people wanting to get more involved, volunteers can sign up as turtle taxis and help transport injured turtles to the centre.

“There’s so many ways to get involved on any level that you like,” she said “All combined, it’s really powerful, but it doesn’t have to be onerous for any one person.”

With the long weekend on the way, it’s especially important to watch for turtles on roads and shoulders. They may look like rocks or potholes, so drivers should be aware, slow down and avoid them if at all possible. If it’s safe to do so, drivers can also pull off onto the shoulder, making sure to watch for nesting sites, and help turtles continue in the direction they’re already headed. 

Anyone in Ontario can call the OTCC at 705-741-5000 to report an injured turtle and their team will help get the turtle care through their first responder system and their taxi system. Turtles face a range of risks in addition to road mortality, including habitat loss, poaching and more. That along with the fact that they’re slow to reproduce means conservation efforts are essential in maintaining their populations.

“Some of these snapping turtles, they could be 50, 75, even 100 or more years old,” Carstairs said. “They’re just impossible to replace in the population when they’re lost, so every one that we save is important.”

Kelly Wallace, managing director and founder of the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative, said Ontario is lucky to have the turtle hospital, so it’s amazing to see it expand. Having a hospital that treats and releases adult turtles gives them the best chance of species recovery. 

“There’s just a huge list of factors that they face and the thing is, they are very slow to reproduce,” Wallace said. “Species like snapping turtles and Blandings turtle could take upwards of 17 to 20 years for them to reach sexual maturity, which means it’s very difficult for them to repopulate.”

Wallace said they’ve already received many calls about turtles in peril, stuck in fences or other structures while also facing the effects of land and shoreline development. The turtle hospital has already admitted over 200 turtles, and with a slow April, that number has Wallace and other conservationists concerned. 

Turtle activity is about two and a half weeks behind this year, she said, so May has seen more turtles on the roads and June will likely be busy for nesting activity. It’s crucial for Ontarians to be mindful of turtles and ensure that any injured turtles get the help they need.

“Turtles have a really unique metabolism, and their ability to recover is actually very good,” Wallace said. “Even a turtle that someone sees that the shells broken and they’re bleeding and they think the turtle is a goner, it’s very, very possible that turtle can be treated and if it gets to the turtle hospital, that just increases the chances of survival.”

Even if the turtle is dead, the OTCC may be able to save its eggs if it’s a female. Any eggs that are salvaged are incubated and raised at the centre before being released at the site where the mother was first located. 

Ontario residents may not be able to help injured porcupines or racoons, Wallace said, but turtles present a unique opportunity for wildlife rescue because of their size and demeanour. Becoming educated on ways to save turtles and their habitat is one of the greatest ways a person can help, so she encourages locals to reach out to conservation groups and ask questions.

“When it comes to wildlife in Ontario, we as concerned citizens have the opportunity to be very instrumental in helping the turtle species survive,” Wallace said. “The hospitals in place, they know what they’re doing, and it’s our responsibility, and we should take it on gladly, to get turtles that we see to the turtle hospital.”

If you need tips on turtles, call the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative at 647-606-9537. To report an injured turtle, call the OTCC 705-741-5000. Visit the Think Turtle blog for tips on helping turtles in spring and summer, and watch the video below to learn more about the OTCC’s expansion.

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