They’re brown, red and black, about the size of a football, and in serious trouble. Now, local ecologists are launching an effort to track wood turtles to help the struggling species survive in the D.C. region.
Wood turtles were once found in abundance from Maine to Virginia, but in the last few decades their population has dropped significantly. Efforts are underway in a partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the Conservation Biology Institute, along with wildlife departments in Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, to count them and get a better sense of their population and habitats.
Finding turtles is no easy task. They live under leaves in brown, cloudy water. Researchers have to step carefully in stream beds. Once they find a turtle, they assign it a number and put notches on its shell to identify it and track it over time. They also take note of its length, width, height, weight, and any unique markings on its shell before putting it back into a stream.It is illegal to harass or possess wood turtles.
Akre said hatchling wood turtles are sometimes called the “M&Ms of wildlife” because they’re “small, brown and easy to eat,” making them easy prey for raccoons, herons, crows, skunks and foxes.
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