FOSTER’S DAILY DEMOCRAT (Dover, New Hampshire) 14 July 05 Volunteers keeping tabs on turtles in York (Jason Gray)
York, Maine : Officials are asking motorists to keep an eye out for turtles crossing local roads during their annual treks to nesting areas; what may appear to be a rock in the road may actually be a 70-year-old reptilian native of the town.
The Mount Agamenticus conservation coordinator, in conjunction with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Nature Conservancy organization and the Maine Department of Transportation, have organized a volunteer program to survey the "hot spots" of turtle travel in York for the last three years. This year is the fourth year of the six-week "Southern Maine Turtle Road Monitoring Project," during which volunteers monitor roads, record turtle sightings (dead or alive), and help them cross the road if they are facing mortal danger.
Imagine you're a 70-year-old turtle, walking along on your annual habit pilgrimage, attempting to cross road after road that has sprung up over the years and cut tarred obstacles in your path. Then one day it all comes to an end as an SUV, or other vehicle, comes barreling down the road. Your shell can fend off coyotes, and bears, but it is no match for the tires of a vehicle. Your life ends with an unceremonious splat.
"The message here is not to move the turtles from their habitats, and report sightings," said Robin Stanley, conservation coordinator for Mt. Agamenticus. "We encourage people to direct traffic around snapping turtles instead of trying to move them from the road. They are aggressive, and you'd be surprised how fast they can move."
Stanley says that if you see a turtle, it is OK to pick it up and move it to the other side of the road, so long as they are not moved far from the area, and placed back in the same direction they were traveling in.
The natural instinct of a turtle is to hide in its shell when in danger. This defense does not work against motorists. Turtle road mortality is a leading cause of death for turtles in York County. Turtle species known to frequent York County are the painted turtle, common snapping turtle, common musk turtle and wood turtles, the spotted turtle which is considered threatened, and the blanding's and eastern box turtles, which are considered endangered.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is also conducting a research project in York County to try and locate turtle travel hot spots. Currently, graduate student Frederic Beaudry of the University of Maine is conducting telemetry research on the turtles by attaching radio transmitters to track their progress. The research, and the volunteer survey project in York, are in their fourth year.
"There is probably no other organism for which road mortality is such a huge threat," said Phillip deMaynadier, a wildlife biologist for the endangered species group at the MDIW, who co-coordinated York's volunteer turtle program with Stanley. He is also serving as adviser to Beaudry on his project. He says the turtle populations rely on the older adults to breed and maintain the population. Most turtles don't begin breeding until they are around 15-20 years old.
Turtles travel for food and higher elevation areas for breeding during the summer months. They also search for vernal pools, temporary wetland areas that occur every year as a result of melted snow and rain that are free of fish predators and are ideal for food and turtle breeding habitats.
There are currently nine volunteers working on the turtle project, which runs from May 30 to July. 10. Stanley says they could have used more volunteers to survey other roads in town.
Volunteers go out to their designated turtle travel road sections 3-4 days a week. They must go out to their road sections, via bike or walking, before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m., which is when the turtles are the most active.
Preliminary survey results show that there have been 14 live turtle sightings and 13 turtle mortality sightings in the last five weeks. All of the mortalities were painted turtles, ten of which were hatchlings, or quarter sized baby turtles. There have been five blanding's turtles, three spotted turtles, three snapping turtles, one painted turtle and two unknown turtles spotted on York Roads. There were multiple sightings Jun. 23-25, the first warm day after a cool spring. The warm weather drew the turtles out after the cooler than normal spring.
According to deMaynadier, turtles are one of the few species to have survived more than 200,000 million years. They outlived the dinosaurs, glaciers and other natural disasters occurring over the past millions of years. Their evolutionary pace however, has not yet made them adept enough to deal with vehicles.
If you see a turtle, dead or alive in the road, you can report the sighting by call the lodge on Mount Agamenticus at (207) 361-1102. If you find an injured turtle, call the Center for Wildlife in York at (207) 361-1400.
Organizers of the turtle research and surveys hope that once the turtle travel hot spots are located, the MDOT will begin placing seasonal road signs to warn people of turtle crossing areas.
Volunteers keeping tabs on turtles in York