May 24, 2012


by Lorraine Julien

Photo by Lorraine Julien.

It’s getting to be that time of year when we see road kill on the highways; especially horrible are the bodies of turtles that have been hit while trying to cross the roads to lay their eggs. You can do your part to save some of these slow moving creatures by being more watchful while on the roads over the next few weeks. From late May to mid-July mother turtles make their way to nesting areas up to one km away from their wetland hangout. The mother turtles bury their eggs in the soil and the hatchlings emerge from the nest 60-90 days later. Protecting an egg-carrying adult makes a big difference for Ontario's declining species; very few hatchlings make it to adulthood, and those that do take a long time to mature. Mothers lay eggs every year, so by protecting the oldest members of the population you are protecting the opportunity for her to replace herself in future generations. Some turtles, such as the Snapping Turtle, can live to be up to 90 years of age but do not reach egg-laying maturity until about 20 years of age.

Turtles need to have a nesting spot that receives a lot of sunshine as the eggs need the warmth from the sun to incubate and hatch. Although natural predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks and coyotes do destroy most turtle nests, there are numerous turtles killed by cars every year. Slow moving turtles retreat into their shells when they hear a vehicle approaching instead of trying to move to safety. Females traveling to lay their eggs are most susceptible to road deaths but males are often hit while moving overland between wetlands in search of females in the spring, and hatchlings are often hit after emerging from the nest on their way to wetlands (especially if the nest was laid on the shoulder of a road – as so often happens).

Our most common turtle is the Midland Painted Turtle. Of the eight turtles native to Ontario, the Painted Turtle is the only one that is not “at risk” – yet. We are lucky to have a resident Painted Turtle lay eggs on our south facing lawn every year. Though we knew the location of the nest, we didn’t do anything for years and watched helplessly as the raccoons dug up the eggs within a day or two of them being laid. Last year we decided to stop the nest destruction. We simply used a large piece of strong wire mesh and covered the nest area. The wire mesh was held down with tent pegs and rocks. After corresponding with Mr. Pat Grace, a turtle expert in Sharbot Lake, we knew that we should only leave the wire mesh in place for a couple of weeks. It seems that the raccoons can smell freshly laid eggs but the scent disappears in a few days, especially if there has been rain.

Right on schedule, our Painted Turtle laid her eggs – I think the date was about June 5. In order to get to the nesting site, she had to climb a fairly steep, rocky bank. Many weeks went by and we almost gave up on hatching any eggs, when one day in early September, while we were raking leaves, my husband noticed something small moving around in the dusty soil. It was a tiny baby turtle. We carried it down to the water’s edge and wished him good luck as he swam away under our dock.

If you happen to see a turtle laying her eggs and know the whereabouts of the nest, you could simply use a flat piece of chicken wire, at least 2’ x 2’ attached to the ground with tent pegs or rebar stakes for a temporary nest cover. This allows sunlight to warm the nest and incubate the eggs during daylight hours. This is a crude cover but it worked for us – you just have to remember to remove it.

Pat Grace suggests that the best type of nest protection is a wire mesh dome, cylinder or cone shaped, anchored to the ground with 10” long tent or rebar stakes. These structures should be at least 20” in diameter, about 1’ high and constructed with 2” chicken wire to allow sunlight to warm the nest. A 2’ x 10’ sheet of meshed wire and 12 stakes will construct two nest protectors. Care should always be taken to leave a wide perimeter around the area where the eggs have been deposited when establishing nest protectors. Last year we made the mistake of not having the nest area covered enough and the raccoons were still able to reach under the mesh and retrieve some of the eggs. It’s important to remember that nest protectors should be removed by mid-July to allow hatchlings to emerge naturally from the nest.

Some of the information in this article was taken from my own experience, but under the guidance of Mr. Grace, and also information was taken from the Turtles of Ontario Stewardship Guide which I received from the Toronto Zoo. The Toronto Zoo’s Adopt-A-Pond staff notes that almost 5000 turtle hatchlings were reported by participants last year; also 475 turtles were rescued and moved off Ontario roads by dedicated conservationists. Since the Ontario Turtle Tally registry started in 2003, there are now 1671 participants! Special thanks to Julia Phillips, Adopt-A-Pond Coordinator, Toronto Zoo, for her expert input and assistance.

You can help - for more information on the Ontario Turtle Tally or how you can address threats to Ontario turtles, please contact: Adopt-A-Pond Programme, 361A Old Finch Ave., Toronto, ON M1B 5K7; 416-392-5999, or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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