Turtle season is in full swing and May is slipping away. The primary goal for this spring season was to find juvenile Blanding’s turtles. It has been a successful season so far, with the findings of two new Blanding’s Juveniles. This is no easy task, as juveniles are very good at hiding under logs, sticks, hummocks and anything else they find in the water. My first encounter was with Juls, an approximately ten year old Blanding’s turtle. Juls happened to be hanging around a shallow area of a fen during my population surveys and I have caught Juls 2 more times since.
My next encounter was with Ziniah, a four-year-old Blanding’s turtle who was also caught during my population survey. That was an exciting catch, as the headstart turtles are also four years old, so we can learn a lot about there size, growth and behaviour from following Zi.
Another wild juvenile (Dean) who we caught last year has moved to a new location approximately 250 yards away. That makes Dean’s movements since found total almost ½ kilometre…and who says juvenile turtles don’t move around!!
So many exciting things we are learning and with this fantastic weather I can’t wait for the continued adventures on the horizon.
Lynda
