DUNDAS STAR NEWS (Ontario) 30 June 06 Hydro crew works around turtle nest - RBG wants to move eggs to safe place (Craig Campbell)
Horizon Utilities contractors apparently worked around a snapping turtle nest while placing new hydro poles along the north side of King Street East near Olympic Drive early this week.
Now there is some question whether the nest can be moved to a safe, low traffic area away from the ongoing construction.
Workers clearly marked the nest with a spray painted circle and the word Turtle on the road last week, when dropping off the poles.
A Horizon spokesperson said the hydro poles and lines are being relocated from the Desjardins Canal side of the street.
"The water level has risen in the canal so our hydro poles are sitting in water, which is not a safe place for them," Sandy Manners of Horizon Utilities communications office said.
The entire project is expected to take seven weeks. Ms. Manners said there will be short power outages during that period, when power lines are taken down and replaced on the new poles. She said the company is cautious about the environment and will work around the snapping turtle nest.
"We'll make sure we don't disturb the nest," Ms. Manners said.
Meanwhile, the RBG would like to relocate the turtle nest to a safer site.
Tys Theysmeyer, an aquatic ecologist at the RBG, said there have been problems protecting snapping turtle nests in the past, though several other turtle species are endangered while snapping turtles are not.
"We can maybe move those eggs to a safer place," Mr. Theysmeyer said. "Where they may get dug up by a raccoon, but now they may get dug up by a hydro pole digger."
Raccoons and cars are the biggest local threats to area turtles, particularly on and around busy Cootes Drive.
Ms. Manners said they would seek direction on what more the utility should do about the King Street East nest.
Neither the Guelph nor Niagara Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources offices had heard of this particular nest by Tuesday of last week.
Art Timmerman, fish and wildlife biologist in Guelph, said there are no regulations to enforce but he could offer advice.
"We would ask them to be careful around the nest - either walking or with vehicles," he said.
But Mr. Timmerman would probably not support relocating the nest. He said it isn't a good idea unless the person doing it knows exactly what he or she is doing.
Anne Yagi, fish and wildlife biologist in the Niagara office, agreed.
"The best idea is to fence it off. You can put a cage over it, or a fence around it," Ms. Yagi said.
Predators, road deaths of nesting female snapping turtles and loss of wetland put the Cootes Paradise area population at risk, prior to 2000 when the RBG began a nest relocation project.
Nesting sites were created in a couple of RBG gardens away from road traffic.
Snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtle in Canada. They range from 20 to 40 centimetres in length and can weigh more than 70 pounds. They eat both plants and animals.
They lay eggs between early June and mid-July. The female snapping turtle uses her hind feet to dig out a flask-shaped nest and lays 20 to 40 eggs, each the size of a ping pong ball.
Whether or not a male or female turtle hatches depends on the ground temperature. Around 25 celsius, males are produced. Temperatures of 30 celsisus or higher produce female turtles.
The young turtles usually hatch after about 100 days, meaning the eggs in this particular nest could be expected to hatch in late September.
A couple of local residents watched the large snapping turtle lay her eggs across from the Desjardins Canal at King Street East and Olympic Drive. The process took about 90 minutes.
Hydro crew works around turtle nest