Blanding’s turtle recovery a community effort
Want to know how the turtles get to Acton’s fourth grade classrooms in the first place?
Fourth graders in Acton have the easy part of head-starting Blanding’s Turtles once they show up in their classrooms. Want to know how they get there in the first place?
New England Zoo and Bryan Windmiller have worked tirelessly the last 15 years to establish the program of protection and regeneration. Nesting females received battery-powered transmitters (very space-age looking) that help volunteers locate them when they emerge to lay eggs.
On warm June evenings, nesting females cross the Reformatory Trail and cruise through yards, looking for “just the right spot” to lay their eggs — sometimes right in your flower bed. Armed with radio receivers and binoculars, NE Zoo volunteers and the neighbors wait for the nest to be completed, which can take hours, often into the dark.
The volunteers often walk the mom back to the meadow, saving her the dangers of crossing the Reformatory Trail when she may be exhausted, and easing her back into the water. Then a wire cage is placed around the nest to protect it from predators while the eggs incubate.
Volunteers check the nest daily until fall. When the adorable babies emerge, they are weighed, given ID marks in their shell, and put into the record. The babies then live in small tanks with their nestmates for a month or so (neighbors sometimes provide this service). The turtles are fed and weighed daily until they are big enough to go into the fourth grade classrooms.
The threatened Blanding’s population has truly rebounded from this collaboration. It is fun and inspiring to be part of the effort. Anyone riding or walking the Reformatory Trail can help by just slowing down a bit, as lots of turtles cross the trail throughout the summer and fall. It’s a group effort we can all feel good about.
Bija Satterlee
Minuteman Drive
