Victory for the Snapping Turtles!

By David Seburn They say you can’t fight city hall. However, sometimes you can motivate the powers that be. Can you see the baby snapper? Can you see how high that curb must look to it? Photo by Ian Whyte For some time now, it has been known that hatchling Snapping Turtles (officially [...]

2018-01-03T01:20:23-05:00November 13th, 2015|Conservation|

Hatchling Snapping Turtles on the move!

by Dave Seburn Snapping Turtles will never win any prizes for parenting. Females nest by digging a hole in the ground and depositing their eggs in it. They cover the hole and return to the wetland, maternal duties finished. Many of those nests will be dug up by Raccoons or Skunks looking for an easy [...]

2015-09-02T14:09:08-04:00September 2nd, 2015|Conservation|

Mud Lake Fall BioBlitz

By Lucy Patterson, member of the OFNC Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) On September 12-13th, 2014, Nature Canada held a fall BioBlitz event at Mud Lake. Its goal was to locate, identify, and photograph as many living things as possible within a 24-hour period. The event was part of a larger effort to [...]

2018-01-03T01:10:58-05:00September 19th, 2014|Conservation|

Mud Lake turtle rescue

by Ian Whyte On 10 September, I attended an OFNC birding outing at Mud Lake. Because I’ve found Snapping Turtle hatchlings trapped on the road by the filtration plant in previous years, I checked that location on my way home. The road in front of the filtration plant can be a death trap for hatchlings [...]

2018-01-03T01:05:30-05:00September 12th, 2014|Conservation|

Watch for turtles!

from Turtle S.H.E.L.L. Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the other side. It may seem silly, but it’s the truth. Right now many turtles are moving from one marsh to another, to find food, locate a mate, or lay eggs. Historically, this was no problem, but today turtles must often cross [...]

2014-06-10T23:13:37-04:00June 10th, 2014|Conservation|