turtle rescue and hatching

We have added a second heating pad: now each tub has its own. When set on low these seem to be creating an even heat which is about 28 degrees Celsius around the eggs. There is some daily variation which we try to manage manually by lifting quilts. When we start having hotter nights and days we may be able to turn the heaters off all together.

We will post pictures of the set up this week.

Two Questions: How much air do the eggs need? I have read different accounts. Some suggest that there needs to be fresh air on a regular basis because the eggs need oxygen to thrive, others have said leave the eggs in a sealed tub, which over time would starve the eggs of oxygen. Does any one have any comments?

Second, when swimming today in Mitchell Creek we found two eggs that looked like map turtle eggs on the bottom of the creek. Does any one know what the origins of these might be? Does the mother ever drop eggs in the water? There were no carcasses on the bridge, but we did consider that they might have been left over after a road kill: any other ideas?

A turtle laying its eggs being wateched over by a large bird that wants to come and eat the eggs.

An employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources commented on this blog that raising turtle eggs at home may be illegal – but first what is happening to the eggs.

We had our second casualty this week. One of the eggs in the map turtle box collapsed in on itself. It was probably the stink pot turtle egg, which was tenuous to begin with. The rest seem to be holding their own. I am leaving the lid propped open for air circulation and to keep the condensation down. The humidly is still about 90% in the tubs.

The map turtles continue to lay eggs. On our way to a swim yesterday we saw one making her way up from the bridge to a prime nesting area. She was on the side of the road. We carried her kicking, and I am sure silently screaming, over the road. On the way back from the swim (about 45 minutes later) she was heading back to the water. Again she was one the side of the road. We carried her down and she rapidly swam off.

The communication from the MNR employee, comment on the previous entry, suggests that this turtle "mid-wiving" is in contravention to numerous laws regarding endangered species. I have put a call into find out if this is true and will up date as information becomes known.

My knowledge of the endangered species legislation is at a more macro level. I certainly support the concept and would not want to be in violation of this law. My understanding is that if anything it needs to be stronger. Numerous environmental organizations have criticized it for only being able to make recommendations. It does not bind the government to any course of action to protect endangered species.

My second thought is that we are fighting to preserve a habitat that has nurtured endangered species but the laws do not seem to be able to stop the raising of the Mitchell Creek Bridge. Yet, if the rumour is true, the law makes it hard to try and save eggs that had no chance of survival.

The irony is that one of the threats to these eggs is the actual bridge construction that will damage the turtle’s habitat.

This stink pot turtle was found at Mitchell Creek Bridge a week ago. The past week has been a busy one for turtle rescue in our area. The painted turtles were out in force on the local roads. Many begrudgingly accepted assistance with the trip to the other side.

A warning to those who try taking painted turtles off of roads. When they are picked up they tend to expel a significant amount of liquid. I am not sure where this comes from, but if they are held away from the body it does not end up in your shoe.

We threw out our first turtle egg this week. It developed a small crack and became mouldy.

The big challenge has been keeping them hot enough, but not too hot. The temperature range has been between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius. Also, trying to keep them humid has proved a challenge. We have had considerable condensation inside the crates. To reduce the humidity we have been propping the lids open with pieces of wood. Excess moisture was rung out of the peat moss. So far we have kept the operation fairly low tech. We will only know the wisdom of this in the fall.

The Bridge over Mitchell Creek is in need of repair. It was built 70 years ago to cross a marshy, stump filled wetland that drained Desert Lake. Subsequent to its construction the creek was dredged and made passable for small boats. Two years ago the township and its engineers, with the support of the local residents, proposed a simple replacement of the bridge’s superstructure. Essentially, this meant lifting the girders, planking and railings off the abutments, which were still sound, and replacing them. This repair would not change the environmental configuration around the bridge and it would not involve in water work. It provides us with a structurally sound bridge for another 70 years and would provide a slight increase in navigability for smaller boats: the bottom of the replacement girders would sit a few inches higher than the existing structure.

This proposal passed all the necessary regulatory hurdles but one: Navigation Canada said the bridge needed to be one and a half meters higher than the current structure. This would mean a radically different structure and increased boat traffic on the creek.

The primary risk to the turtles comes from raising the bridge. This will necessarily mean significant in-water work, an alternation to the shore line and to the routes away from the creek that the turtles follow. These concerns are in addition to the potential harm from increased boat traffic and the increased size and character of boats that would be able to use the creek when the bridge is raised. Wake, log removal and disturbance of the bottom are likely outcomes.

The economic benefits from raising the bridge could also be negative. The creek is a prime wilderness canoeing location in southern Ontario and an access point to Frontenac Provincial Park, a wilderness park. Two outfitters rely upon people who use Mitchell Creek for these reasons. Changing the nature of boat traffic on the creek would alter this experience and potentially harm these businesses and the Park.

The documentation of thriving stinkpot turtle and map turtle populations in the creek, both of which use the existing bridge site for access to egg laying areas, increases our concerns about environmental harm. The existing configuration of creek characteristics and the environment at the bridge site seem to be working well to support these populations: any significant alteration could easily harm the benefits that exist. This seems a needless risk considering the limited, if any, gain from raising the bridge by a meter and a half.

Local residents, the local Member of Parliament and supporters across the province are fighting this arcane ruling grounded in legislation from 125 years ago. We have won an environmental inventory of the creek which will be part of the internal environmental assessment process of the federal government. We are still hopeful that the township might simply be allowed to replace the bridge and not have to comply with a federal regulation that makes no sense for this location.

Mitchell Creek is a 3 kilometre long creek that runs between two lakes neither of which has any other navigable waterways into or out of them. Less than 50 cars a day cross the bridge and it provides access to a relatively small permanent rural population and summer cottagers.

It never rains it pours. Certainly that described the weather on June 9, the day our turtle adventrue started. As the day progressed it became wetter and wetter but the turtles seemed to like it. One of our neighbours came and photographed the snapping turtle excavation and informed us that there were two map turtles laying eggs in her lane.

A short walk in the rain found the turtles. We watched one finish digging her nest and saw the eggs laid. She had situated her nest dead center in the lane way. Out came another tub and more peat moss. This nest was easily found and 10 elongated white eggs were carefully placed in the tub.

The other nest was just off the road. To protect it from predation we used a metal dog crate and filled with stones. Red flags were tied to the structure by another neighbour to keep cars from hitting it.

Just when we thought we thought we might get out of the rain yet another neighbour directed us to a carcass of recently run over stink pot turtle. This was good and bad. It provided further evidence of a healthy stink pot population in the creek, but however healthy it is it is now one less. There was still one egg with the carcass that now joined the map turtle eggs nestled in peat moss.

Both containers of eggs were taken to our living room placed on a heating pad near the hot water radiator and covered with quilts. Thus ended a long, wet, chilling but exciting day and started our summer adventure as turtle mid-wives.

June 9. It was a grey and drizzly day. I, Ross, had arrived home late the night before from an engagement in Ottawa and finally roused myself to take the dog for her morning run about 0830. Approaching the bridge crossing over Mitchell creek I noticed a large snapping turtle, one of the really big moss covered ones, dug into the side of the road: on the other side of the road there was a stink pot turtle.

The stink pot is our smallest indigenous turtle and threatened in Ontario. The bridge has been a center of controversy for the past couple of years so the presence of a stink pot was significant. (More on the bridge controversy in a moment).

I interrupted my run to contact the team doing an environmental inventory of the creek. They needed to come out and document the presence of the stink pot. To make sure the turtle stayed around it was placed in a pail: she was not happy about this. By the time the assessors arrived and pictures were taken Brianna had arrived to stay the weekend.

We agreed to try and find the snapping turtle eggs. The nest site was close to the bridge where significant repair work was likely to be done latter in the summer. Also the literature says that turtle eggs on road sides, if they survive the racoons and skunks, get too hot and dry to do well. It seemed to be environmental “OK” to take the eggs.

The finding proved harder than anticipated. The mother had dug half dozen holes in the side of the road. After exploring four or five we found the smooth white shell of an egg about 4 inches below grade. Carefully we excavated the nest. The eggs were lifted out and placed on a bed of saturated peat moss in a large tub. Care was taken to maintain the orientation of the eggs: we tried to keep the up side up. In all we dug out 28 ping pong ball sized eggs.