A trip to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (20171116) What a great place.

On our recent trip to Toronto the bride allowed to make a short side-trip to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre. What a terrific spot to visit and get to see some turtles. I was able to meet Donnell, one of the many folks that work there. They were getting ready for an afternoon event so I didn't want to stay very long. I did get to meet several of their more permanent guests like this little Painted turtle. It has quite a bit of damage on its shell.

The Painted shared a large tank with this beautiful Blanding Turtle that only has one eye. This is my first ever sighting of a Blanding Turtle!

In a separate tank right next door is a turtle we don't get to see in Nova Scotia, is a Map turtle. Named as the stripes on their legs, shell, head, and neck look like contour lines on a map. This was another first for me to see.

They also have a 35 year old male Snapping turtle. It was kept as a pet for almost 30 years, and has been at the centre for 5 more. While it is healthy and robust, all those years in captivity have taken the "turtle" out of this Snapper. He doesn't know how to hunt or defend himself so he cannot be released to the wild. He is a beautiful large specimen.

Next up is yet a third new turtle to me, and another we don't get here in Nova Scotia.

These little guys are only about 10 centimeters long, so even fully grown they are quite small.

So take few minutes and visit their web site: OTCC
They are doing a great job and have helped almost 900 turtles in 2017. They do damage repair, incubation of eggs, and a lot of education!  What a terrific crew.
I also got to see my first Wood turtle, but it was in pretty rough shape.
Take some time today, and put a little wild in your life!
Turbo

What did we learn in 2016? A brief summary of our Turtle Patrol season.

We thought it would be appropriate to record what we found from a statistical aspect from this year's patrols. Clarence as the scientist has all of the details of what happened on most of our days. So here is the summary.



Snapping turtles
4 nests, 7 dead babies,  8 baby Snappers saved!
We also found many predated nests.  We had 9 in my area and in the third major spot that we attended on November 9, had 35. We need to do something to minimize the destruction of nests next year.

We are definitely looking forward to 2017 and hoping to find more baby snappers and more nests. We are planning to construct some nest "protectors" but our issue is that our areas are very public with a lot of both foot and ATV traffic. We are hoping next year perhaps we can connect with some private land owners and get the protector to them to aid in the successful hatching of our Snapping Turtles.

Take some time and put a little wild in your life, it will do you good!

Until next year,

Clarence and Turbo

Well yet another stroll in a new Area (20161109) Can we have even more success?

With yesterday's wonderful encounter Clarence and I headed to the area with the most numerous nests that we have found this summer. Hopes were high that we would find a number of nests and perhaps even more youngsters to save. It was another beautiful fall day with temperature in the 12C area, and the sun shining brightly.
We found two successful nests, but all we found were empty shells. The first we believe was a painted turtle nest as it only had 2 or 3 empty shells. The second nest was definitely a Snapper nest with a lot of empty shells.
We also had the pleasure of encountering this beautiful Red-bellied snake-- which was a first ever for me.

Here is a second image of this wonderful little beauty.

We had a wonderful couple of hours. All told we found 35 predated nests on this walk so this is an area where there could be some great work that could be done to improve Snapper nesting success.
Put a little wild in your life today!
Turbo

Save 7 (20161007) We would have definitely lost this guy.

The seventh of October brought what I though would be my last patrol of the year (2016). We had a great day and a big storm was scheduled for tomorrow, so Bizzy and I headed out hoping for one or two more turtle sightings for the season. On our way "out" we spotted this beautiful young White-throated Sparrow.

On our return, as it seems is when we spot these little guys, this guy looked like he was done.

If you notice his yolk sack is totally absorbed, so he has been out of the nest for a bit.
I picked him up and started warming him up, then got him a little water. After about 40 minutes he was moving like a champion. So I released him at one of our spots, and he was off to the races. 

 What I did note about this unit in particular was his curly tail. Every other baby I have seen had a very straight tail. Here is another shot of him heading to the pond.

Just before ending the patrol We grabbed a few images of this good looking Maritime Garter.

That makes 7 for the year and I was feeling really good about deciding to head out for a patrol.
Take an hour out of your time today, and put a little wild in your life!
Turbo

Baby number 6 (20160929) a few other critters from the environment.

With a couple of days in between, it was time for another patrol along the rails. While the turtles were tough to find, Clarence and I did spot this beautiful Maritime Garter snake.

Another nice find this afternoon was this Pickerel frog.

Our next discovery was at the second hot-spot area and it was this rather large nest opening that we assumed was a predated (opened by predators) nest. We only assumed this because of the size of the opening. 

Once again on our return trip we spotted a baby turtle, right in Clarence's path. I have been told that there are two colour phases in Snappers; dark and cinnamon, This looks like a cinnamon unit.

Here is the little guy on his release log, all ready to start his new life in the safety of a pond. 

We finished out walk in this area with this very beautiful Maritime Garter. Our third snake of the day and a very light colouration specimen. I also found the patterning on this snake to be very unique!

Another very successful patrol and our saves now add up to 6 so far for the year!

Take some time today and put a little wild in your life!

Turbo

Clarence's first baby Snapper of the year (20160924) a Katydid included.

Well Clarence was finally able to make it out for a patrol along the rails. We had yet another beautiful day and it was a successful stroll. Although we didn't see anything on the walk out the end of the trail, we did capture an image of this Katydid.

On our return Clarence spotted this little fella working his way along between the rails.

This is a male, as you can see from the length of the tail. The females tail is quite a bit shorter, but all the babies we have found to date have been males. The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperature in the nest. If it is cool or hot in the nest then females will be born, if the nest temperature (at the critical time) is just warm then males will be the result.

This image shows no yoke sac on the belly of this specimen indicating he has been out of the nest for a bit, trying to find a water hole. Here he is on a "release log", a spot very close to the water so with minimal effort he can gain the safety and security of his home for the next couple of years.

Baby number 5 has been saved. This is really feeling good.
Take some time and put some wild in your life!
Turbo

Finding Granddaddy (20160922) Not an empty stroll

With the success of yesterday's babies I was anxious to get out and see if I couldn't get more  babies down to the safety of a pond. While  no little fellers were found Bizzy and I did find what is probably the main breeding male for the area.

It was actually the puppy that warned me of the presence of this monster sized Snapper. 

This "grizzly" had wonderful large claws, and he was huge. I don't believe that he would have been able to fin in the top of a garbage can. Quite the impressive beast. Clarence says that this would be the big males migration back to the lake, where he will spend the winter under the ice.

I thought I would add in a portrait of "Granddaddy". There is no doubt in my mind that this fella has seen many, many, years.
The puppy and I continued out patrol but found no other turtles on this walk. When we returned to where this big fella was spotted, he was gone. I could track his trail and he made it safely back to the water.
Take some time and put a little wild in your life today!
Turbo

Well finally baby snapper success (20160921) what sweeties

For a month now I have been patrolling the hotspots near home with the hope of finding a nest of Snappers hatching out. I had hooked up with my now Turtle partner Clarence Stevens over the summer. I had found a number of nest which predators had broken into and consumed. I called Clarence to see if he was interested in coming to take a look.
That is how the now Turtle Patrol was formed! Clarence gave me an idea of what to look for and I set about the search. One of the main reasons for the intense search was that Clarence had warned me that baby turtles might get "trapped" between to rails of the tracks and that I should keep my eyes open. 
On this day, just before noon, I was on Patrol, when I discovered my first baby snapping turtle on the tracks. I was amazed by a couple of things, first of the size, the second; the perfect formation!

It was just the start to SUPER day, and the beginnings of the Turtle Patrol! All in all we found 4 live baby turtles and got them safely to water so that they might grow to become mature and pass on these marvelous genes.
Here is a shot of another of these wonderful miracles.

Here is another shot, of just the hind foot and tail.

Here is a shot of the third individual. what a magical morning!

I will also include a couple of shots here of what I believe are "exit" or "evacuation" holes. These are just as amazing as the turtles themselves. These are tiny holes about 1 inch tall and about 2 inches wide.

I can hardly wait to actually see babies coming out of a hole of this nature. j

I'll wrap up my post here with hopefully a little education completed on what the Turtle Patrol is all about! I would like to further state that all four babies that were rescued were found between the rails and would have likely perished, or been eaten.
Take some time and put a little wild in your life!
Turbo

Yet another spot to check out for the babies. (20160628) the other side of the lake.

Well me and the puppy wanted to get the bugs out of the boat and motor for the upcoming fishing season. So we headed over to the other side of the lake bright and early. As we neared the lake we were surprised with not one but two beautiful Snapper ladies. This first one was coming back down to the creek from up the hill.

This second lady seemed to be in full fledged egg laying. So we left the girls to their business and went fishing for a while.

Yet another beautiful eye, right?
Well take some time and put a little wild in your life!
Turbo

A little more exploration (20160626) another honey hole

With the good luck that I had close to home I decided to expand my search for Snappers a little further away from home. As I broke into an opening in the trees I spotted these two wonderful ladies tending to their business.

So here we go again, more multiple ladies strolling around in an absolute honey hole.  Where is this all leading. I am truly in love with the eyes these creatures have.

The other aspect that I adore of these wonderful characters is their ability to hold onto their algae as they move around on the water.

Their legs are also a lot longer than people expect. No wonder they can get anywhere they want to go.

A final shot here that once again shows off the eyes of the beauties.

So now there are two spots I will need to keep an eye on in the fall to see if there are any little snappers walking around.
Take some time today and put a little wild in your life.
Turbo

One lone prehistoric beauty (20160625) My Nova Scotia Grizzlies.

After giving the ladies a rest of a day or two, Bizzy and I headed back down to sneak a peak to see what was happening in the neighbourhood. This first image is why I have nicknamed the Snappers my Nova Scotia Grizzlies; just look at those claws.

We spent a little time with lady (can't call her little!) while she strolled around.

I love it when I can get down low for a head on shot. Here is an image from a higher angle, just look at the patterning on her head. 

Here I caught her coming over a rail, what beautiful, prehistoric images they present. It is not hard to see why I have fallen in love with these majestic creatures. 

I hope you enjoy the images. Take some time and put a little wild in your life!

Turbo

Bonanza! (20160623) looky looky what I found....

Well I grabbed my puppy and we decided to do a little exploring close to home. As we approached the lake I couldn't believe my eyes. Lady Snappers!

What a great way to start the morning! This monster was looking for just the right place to unload her cargo of eggs and then get on with her living.

What a tail, and can you image the males are almost twice this long! This one seemed to be well on her way to finishing up her laying for the year. This is Mama2.

Here is another shot of Mama1, quite the rust stain on her back.

Now as a wildlife photographer this is a time you have to be very careful and not focus on just one or two subjects. You need to slow down and take a look around to be aware of everything that is happening. As I did so I spotted two turtles out in the lake "snorkling". Snorkling is a method these big turtles use to warm up in the spring. They will float just below the water surface and gain heat from the blazing sun.

Then I started to be more acutely aware of what was happening right at the shoreline. I was not disappointed at all, rather it was another bonanza! I found this lady fully submerged in about 12-15 inches of water. I have darkened the photo to emphasize the shape in the water.

Here is a nice image of a girl just sticking her head out of the water.

I popped back to see how Mama 2 was making out and grabbed this up close portrait. Shot @ 270mm. What a prehistoric looking critter.

Turning back to the shoreline, I spotted this lady which looks like number 7 on the morning. I like how clear this shot is considering she is under water. You can see her tail and even her small eyes. 

I included this shot to show just how high they will lift their hind legs as they walk. Nothing but good fortune and thanks to my gifts of nature this morning.

What a day to get a feller's heart going. Now that I know that I have Snappers in the area I will need to be very vigilant to ensure that I do nothing to interfere with them. 
Take some time today and "put a little wild in your life!"
Turbo