The Wood Turtle
The wood turtle (Clemmys insculpata) is the pride and joy of the GSWA ecological restoration area. Its presence marks the reason why we expend so much time and energy in our preservation efforts. We have had two sightings of this turtle in the past two seasons. Unfortunately we have yet to find a young wood turtle, which is a sign that population recruitment is not occurring. There are many reasons that the wood turtle has found itself on the threatened species list, habitat fragmentation, degraded riverine systems, predation, and over collection for the pet trade. More and more children have attempted to make pets out of any unwary turtle that finds itself in the back yards of peoples’ homes. The problem is that these animals have special needs, rarely survive and never find their way back into the population.
They stomp their feet to harvest earthworms, can climb a ten foot chain link fence, have outscored rats in maze tests and much to the chagrin of biologists have found themselves on the States threatened species list. The reason for the latter is the fact that the habitat this species trod is being sliced (a process ecologists term fragmentation) into smaller and smaller areas and the riverine habitat this species needs to fulfill its life cycle has been comprised mainly through anthropogenic means. A personal conclusion I have drawn to the disappearance of this species is a direct result of fragmentation. When a new housing development occurs within the home range of wood turtles we introduce two very insidious components to the environment — dogs and children. Adult wood turtles can easily deal with most domestic dogs by retracting in their shells and waiting out the interruption until the fun is over. I have come across many adult wood turtles with the battle scares from such encounters — chopped off tails and punctured shell scares. The problem this species has with domestic dogs is the mortality they cause to young turtles whose smaller size and softer shells, ill equipped to deal with such assaults and succumb.
Furthermore, fragmented habitats invite the wild relatives of the dog family, namely fox and coyote whose love of forest edges is well documented. These two canids are relentless hunters that will keep up an attack until the job is done in the name of survival. To add to the woes of wood turtles — for that matter all woodland turtles — they must deal with children who collect them while playing in their backyard sanctuaries. Thinking that its o.k., most parents let them try to make turtles into a household pets, not knowing the specific needs of the animal. The result of this cultural ritual usually ends with the turtle perishing of neglect.
In general I find that you see less and less juvenile turtles, leading me to believe that the lack of recruitment has resulted in this species beginning to go extinct throughout its geographic range.
The lesson here is please, please control your dogs and cats while outside, the damage they can do to the environment can be severe. Contemporary scientific studies on the subject have been frighteningly revealing. Never let your children collect wild animals because animals can harbor a witch’s brew of pathogens unsafe to you and your pets. Taking wild animals from their habitat almost always results in disaster unless the collector has a degree in animal husbandry and is willing to return the animal to the environment. Even when one does reintroduce a wild animal back to its habitat the risk exists that you introduce a pathogen contracted from domestic animals to the wild population.