Turtle Time: Class I Winsor Students Protect Threatened Blanding’s Turtle Population
Wednesday, October 12—Winsor welcomed a special guest to Class I’s science classes with Essential Winsor Science Chair and Science Faculty Ken Schopf. The students, who have been studying ecosystems with Mr. Schopf for several weeks, came well-prepared with questions as they welcomed Cara McElroy, a conservationist from Zoo New England’s Field Conservation Department, who introduced the annual program of raising, or headstarting, two baby Blanding’s turtles as student conservationists.
The two turtles, named Potato and TK, are located in the tank at the end of the Lower School Science hallway just outside the Science Department Office. Class I students will record the weight and length of each turtle on a monthly basis to share with the conservationists from Zoo New England. The turtles will remain here until late May, when they will be reintroduced to their native outdoor habitat.
Ms. McElroy’s visit focused mainly on the reasons why conservation is important and how the turtles are threatened. Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) rank as one of the most threatened wildlife species in the Northeastern United States, with only an estimated 1000 individuals remaining in Massachusetts. Of the ten native turtle species to Massachusetts, six are threatened, and two more are being considered to be added to the list of threatened species.
“Creating a good habitat is the number one best thing you can do for an animal,” Ms. McElroy explained to the class.
“There’s only so much you can do for animals and plants if they have a poor habitat,” she elaborated, which is why the efforts of school programs such as H.A.T.C.H (Hatchling and Turtle Conservation through Headstarting) are critical to fostering a nurturing environment where threatened species can grow free from predators before they are released back into the wild. At Winsor, the turtles can grow faster than they can in the wild, as they are guaranteed frequent and regular feedings and do not hibernate. The class went on to learn that Blanding’s turtles are an important part of the habitat in the vernal pools.
When asked to define the turtles’ characteristics from a photo on the screen, the students were quick to note the distinctive yellow neck, and a set of spots on the shell. Blanding’s turtles are one of only two aquatic turtle species that can completely retract their heads into their shells as a protection mechanism, and fully grown adult turtles have a shell that can withstand up to 2000 lbs of weight. Ms. McElroy noted that while no natural predator in Massachusetts has a bite strength of up to 2000 lbs, unfortunately cars weigh more than that. Other predators include possums, herons, coyotes, frogs, fish, raccoons, and minks who prey on the turtles when they are small and vulnerable. And what is the biggest predator of Blanding’s turtles? The class gasped in shock as a picture of an adorable chipmunk appeared on the screen.
In addition to predators, students learned that the number one threat to Blanding’s turtles is habitat destruction due to human development, followed by habitat fragmentation. Conservationists like Ms. McElroy must go to places where there are Blanding’s turtles, understand their habitat, give them what they need so they can headstart the turtles, and stabilize the population.
According to Zoo New England, participants in the program “raise or ‘headstart’ about 100 hatchlings each year, caring for them indoors from the early autumn when they emerge from their nests until May or June. During this headstarting period, the young Blanding’s turtles grow very quickly, so much so that by their release at about 9 months of age, the headstarted turtles are about the same size as wild three to four-year-olds.” The program has made progress in restoring the population of Blanding’s turtles. In 2003, there were only estimated to be around 500 remaining turtles in Massachusetts; nearly 20 years later, that number has doubled.
Ms. McElroy educated the class about the different ways the turtles are tracked and monitored through conservation efforts, paying particular attention to movement in nesting season when female turtles begin laying their eggs. Since the female turtles do not watch over their nests, the populations are particularly vulnerable to predators, so conservationists like Ms. McElroy are very busy moving from nest to nest to be present when turtles are laying their eggs. Blanding’s turtles can begin laying eggs at the age of 18 to 21 and can continue laying eggs into their 90s. A single turtle could lay up to 800 eggs in a lifetime.
Winsor’s baby turtles are only about four weeks old. Female Blanding’s turtles in Massachusetts typically nest between the last week of May and the end of June. After a two-to-three-month incubation period, baby turtles hatch from early August into October. Winsor’s turtles originated from Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA, but Zoo New England also works with populations in the Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest and in Borderland State Park in Sharon.
“You will be our eyes, ears, boots, on the ground,” advised Ms. McElroy. Through a rotation of feeding the turtles twice per day in teams (for about 15 minutes each feeding), the Class I students will get to know the turtles and their habits, preferences, and will have a good sense if a turtle is developing any changes—such as a loss of appetite—that the Zoology team should hear about. The turtles right now are barely bigger than a quarter, but by late May, the hope is for the turtles to reach 20 times their current size before being released into their home habitat, putting them at roughly the size of a cheeseburger. “Winsor has been good at growing big turtles,” recalled Ms. McElroy, and this year’s students are well-prepared to rise to the task. The entire Class I will go on a field trip to Great Meadows to release the turtles.
As students learned, rare species live all around us. Through this program, Winsor’s student conservationists will gain a greater awareness and observation of the surrounding natural environment and become turtle conservation heroes.
Winsor has participated in the H.A.T.C.H program since the 2018-2019 school year. This is the 14th year of the H.A.T.C.H. program overall.
