Well the big day has finally arrived May 11, 2018 our first turtle release in conjunction Hope For Wildlife. We had a total off 11 turtles to return to nature after some rehabilitation. Ever seen a truck full of Snappers?
We owe a big Thank You to Hope for Wildlife, they arranged not only for public media to be present but also their own film crew that does the Hope for Wildlife Television show. I am told it might be up to 2 years before the show actually airs as they have a lot of great material already filmed!
Clarence and I have some theories that we are trying to confirm so we are starting to shoot images of the underbelly of any turtles that we can. Just look at the expression this little guys face! This is one of 7 that we released outside of Windsor, Nova Scotia.
H7- Hope for Wildlife release #7 turtle was a real rebel he didn't want to head to the water initially.
With a second attempt H7 headed in the right direction and we just had to keep an eye on him for a bit to ensure he made it into the water.
It was amazing to watch these little bulldozers get through the heavy grasses at waters edge. They just stick their nose in a little hole, drop their front feet and push/drive forward with the hind legs!
After about 20 minutes of H7 getting in the water we spotted him making his way to the large pond that Clarence had selected for these seven snappers to call home.
It was nice that we had so many turtles to release at this one site. It provided us with time to observe early released turtles to occasionally check in and see if we were gone yet.
It is so rewarding to see them feeling at home in their new environment. I am not certain that this little fella didn't want to audition to be a permanent member of the cast.
We finished up our day with Al, he found a beautiful spot to release this last snapper in the Gays Lake watershed. A special thanks to Dan the landowner for allowing us to put this young lady into a piece of snapper heaven.
It is hard to express at just how happy we are with all the results of the day and the feelings of jubilation experienced by the members of Turtle Patrol.
Yours in turtling
Turbo
Two years is a long time to wait but that means "Hope for Wildlife" is a very successful show. So glad that Turtle Patrol has this partnership "Hope".
ReplyDeleteThanks of course go to Turbo and Clarence for all you do.
Dear Turbo and Clarence,
ReplyDeleteThank you ever so much for your dedicated as well as ongoing work, in saving the snapping turtles. I am sure that they are forever grateful, yeah, a new beginning!
Best wishes, Christine xox