SUDBURY STAR (Ontario) 08 October 07 Ssssss-preading the word; Biology student aims to educate public about snakes, reptiles (Lara Bradley)
Walnut, the wood turtle, is making quick work of the desk.
This wood-coloured turtle with orange limbs is surprisingly fast and agile, climbing over a keyboard, messing with a stapler and exploring the printer. Every so often, he heads for the edge. Megan Rasmussen, his keeper, says he's usually pretty good at checking for big drops.
Nearby, a little spotted turtle tries to cantilever herself out of her container. She eventually succeeds, flipping out of her bowl and onto her back.
The turtles have to be separated. Walnut had earlier gone after the shell of a deceased spotted turtle, biting it.
"Wood turtles aren't gentle lovers," Rasmussen explains.
Then, a biology professor enters the office. Based on his years of study and training, he exclaims: "That turtle is alive."
Apparently, even in Laurentian University's biology department, it's not common for reptiles to crawl freely.
Rasmussen explains she has a permit and that he's on loan from Sciensational Sssnakes.
Rasmussen is a masters student in biology, researching the "critical habitat selection" of the endangered spotted turtle.
Prior to signing on to pursue higher education and research, she had been working with outreach programs designed to teach people about reptiles.
One year, she worked with Sciensational Sssnakes and the next with a Reptiles at Risk on the Road program, touring northwestern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan with the goal of urging people not to hit them with their cars, kill them on their farms or take the wild creatures in as pets.
While she's busy working on her degree, Rasmussen also wants to keep up with the outreach work. So, the snake organization has loaned her some creatures so she can continue to go out into the community to deliver her reptile-positive message.
One little turtle, with its black shell decorated with yellow polka dots, is the focus of her research. It is considered an endanger species.
"No matter how much I figure out about this species, it's not going to help if people run them over with cars, or with these ones, taking them as pets," she said. "It's a major issue because they are so cute and small. People don't realize if you take one adult out of the population, that's a huge impact on the turtle population."
Every mature turtle is needed out in the wild to keep the species going.
"They have a very slow reproductive rate," Rasmussen said.
With some turtles, it takes 15 years for them to reach sexual maturity. Then, they lay eggs every year for 60 to 100 years, thereafter.
"Most of those babies will not survive. They can be eaten by great blue herons, fox or fish," Rasmussen said. "Out of those 1,000 babies she will lay, one will grow up. If you take that adult out of the population before she has had time to replace herself, the whole population will go down."
All it takes is one or two turtles to cause a decline in the population.
Another threat to turtle populations is drivers who deliberately swerve to hit the shelled creatures.
"When you hit a turtle on the road, you're hitting a mom ready to lay her eggs. They're pretty much cars with baby-on-board sign," Rasmussen said.
"A lot of people will hit snapping turtles on purpose, assuming that they're mean and nasty. If that keeps on happening, we will have zero snapping turtles in the future."
Snapping turtles are actually really helpful because they eat dead things. So, in ponds, lakes and rivers, they're cleaning up dead fish and birds and whatever else falls into the water.
Rasmussen says her work with snakes is to help people get over their phobia of the slithering creatures by teaching them how harmless and helpful most are.
"With the snakes, it's mostly to stop people from killing them. People are so scared of snakes."
For instance, the garter snake, which is common to this area, has no way of actually hurting you.
"They just want to hide. Their best defence is not to be seen. That's why a lot of people get freaked out by them. People think it was hiding in the grass and it jumped out at me," she said.
Really, they were hiding in the grass hoping you wouldn't get close. You see them more often than other snakes because they are active during the day.
"I wanted to continue this because I love doing it," Rasmussen said. "It's amazing to see people's faces when they realize how much there is out there and how cool reptiles are. They think snakes are slimy, turtles are boring and things like that. But they really are remarkable animals."
Turtles make awful pets, especially for children. The main reason is they have salmonella in their gut. "Basically, you're keeping something in a dirty toilet bowl. Then, you're taking it out and playing with it," Megan Rasmussen says.
"When children play with them, they don't always wash their hands, which can make them very sick."
Some turtles will grow much bigger than you expect.
Snakes are not slimy. They are actually dry and smooth. Because of their scales, snakes can't sweat. Humans are actually slimier than snakes.
Rasmussen is willing to take her reptiles and lizards to schools, libraries, birthday parties, corporate functions, or just to people who have an interest. Call her at 675-1151, ext. 2289, or e-mail at sudburysnakes@gmail.com.
Did you know?
It's against the law in Ontario to take wild reptiles out of the wild to use as pets.
Ssssss-preading the word