DAILY OBSERVER (Pembroke, Ontario) 07 June 07 Respect and protect reptiles (Alf Beck)
This is the time of year when we need to remind everyone about our reptilian members of the tree of life.
Obviously, the most vulnerable are our turtles.
Within Renfrew County and Algonquin Park, the most popular species are Painted turtles and Snapping turtles. However, there are also Blanding turtles with their conspicuous yellow chin, and Map turtles and Softshell turtles are reported to live in the Ottawa River and its bays.
Also, there is the rare and protected Wood turtle which spends much of summer in terrestrial habitat, the rest of the year it is aquatic like all the aforementioned.
All turtles, including aquatic ones, lay their eggs on land in burrows they dig with their hind legs, usually in sandy locations along roadsides where the warmth of the sun is hatching them.
Although the female turtles, upon depositing their eggs, leveling the surface of that nest site and make it difficult to detect, predators like foxes, skunks, raccoons, etc. have a keen sense for discovering the buried eggs and eat them.
While wood turtles also eat vegetative matter, all other water turtles are carnivores, snatching frogs, sicklish slow-swimming fish and invertebrates, snapping turtles are also accused of snatching the odd swimming duckling.
Above all, however, other than wood turtles, all other species are chiefly scavengers, picking up dead fish and frogs which otherwise simply decay and spoil the waterways.
So far, no shred of scientific evidence exists, that water turtles have ever impacted on fish, frog, or duck populations.
Although most being excellent swimmers, their natural slow movements prevent them from actually chasing fish or ducklings, for that matter.
Besides scavenging, most lie in ambush waiting until a fish or frog happens to get close enough to grab it.
Like all scavengers, turtles help keep the environment clean and were some to grab a minnow or duckling ... so what.
They play a vital role in the web of life on Earth and should not be unnecessarily molested or killed wantonly.
Predation on their eggs by foxes, skunks and raccoons, etc. ensure that not too many turtles survive and overpopulate.
These turtles we see on our outings are the survivors against many odds.
So, when driving along highways and gravel roads, watch for turtles crossing.
Traffic permitting, you may want to stop and coax a turtle to move onto the shoulder to safety.
Large snapping turtles, however, may be difficult to get to move off the road.
They usually go on the defensive and hiss at you with mouth wide open.
But when left alone they are not aggressive, yet when feeling threatened they try to defend themselves like any other animal would.
Therefore, when encountering turtles on a road or highway, help them to safety or avoid striking them. Don't aim for them to run them over.
They have a right to live like anything else in God's creation!
Other reptiles found around here are snakes.
There are absolutely no poisonous snakes in our area!
They too deserve to be left alone.
Northern Watersnakes and Garter Snakes are usually found near water, where minnows and frogs are their main diet.
The Green Grass Snake, Ringnecked Snake and Redbellied Snake are small, the size of pencils and live inland, where they eat insects and earthworms.
The rare and protected Hognosed Snake, resembling a rattle snake in appearance but without a rattle, lives solely on toads and when molested turns on its back and plays dead.
Then there is the light-grey Milk Snake with a brown zig-zag band on its back.
It often lives near barns and feeds solely on rodents which it constricts.
Were somebody trying to convince you that milk snakes suck the udder of cows, you should ask that person what he was smoking.
Just because you don't like the looks of snakes or the hissing of a snapping turtle is no reason just to kill them; instead just look the other way.
In general, we should be grateful for having so much conserved habitat, that turtles and snakes can still find a place to live.
In other parts of the world, massive conservation and reintroduction efforts are made to enrich their environments with reptiles which were exterminated long ago.
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/webapp/sitepages/search/results.asp?contentid=558735&catname=Sports&type=search&search1=turtle
