By Sara Marschhauser | Conservation Coordinator
The box turtles in the park are about to wake up from hibernation. We have been tracking our transmitter turtles on a weekly basis, but winter just won’t go away. We had threat of snow and ice this past week, but luckily all we ended up getting was very cold rain. I hope the cold and dreary winter weather is over, and that we will now start seeing signs of spring. To me, the start of spring is always signaled by the emergence of reptiles coming out of hibernation, specifically the turtles. They have an internal sense that tells them when the cold weather is over and when it is time to wake up!
Once they come out of hibernation they are on the hunt for food. This can mean many turtles crossing busy roads and being hit by cars, so keep your eye out for them! Do you know how you can help them if you find them trying to cross the road? Instead of bringing them to a more hospitable environment, simply pick the turtle up and place it on the side of the road that it was heading towards. Box turtles have a very specific place that they live in called a home range. If they are moved away from their home range, their internal compass tells them to go back home. If the box turtle is taken far away from its home, it may spend the rest of its life heading in the “home” direction. When they are moved, they don’t eat or drink and usually die before making it home. This is what could have happened to “Crush”, if the people who found him released him in their backyard.
When our transmitter turtles emerge from hibernation we will start tracking them on a daily basis. This research will help determine home range size, movements (during construction in our park), food habits, and behaviors such as mating and hibernation. The more data we continue to collect, the more information we can give to government, and hopefully this research can help give protection status to box turtles in North Carolina.
The turtles say “THANK YOU!” for your continued support!
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