Do you Brake for Turtles?

About the time you begin to hear the spring peepers in the woods, other wildlife species, including several now-rare turtle species, are also becoming active. As the turtles leave hibernation, they come face to face with a modern threat:  cars and lawnmowers.

In the next month or so, turtles will begin moving across wetlands to find mates and nesting sites. Their trek takes them directly across roads and in the path of cars. 

Turtles not only move slowly, they also grow slowly. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, some turtle species take 10-15 years to reach their reproductive years. If just one adult in a habitat dies, the population struggles to grow.

Two of the turtle species that live in Cheshire – the wood turtle and the eastern box turtle – are listed by the state as "species of special concern." The  DEP defines special concern as a native species that has a low population and a narrow habitat range, such as wetlands and river corridors.

In an effort to bring attention to the plight of turtles, the DEP has named 2011 as the Year of the Turtle in Connecticut. The designation is part of a collaborative program with PARC, or Partnership in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, an international preservation effort.

Cheshire Environmental Planner Suzanne Simone said the majority of turtles in Cheshire are found along the river corridors.  “People will see (turtles) if they’re walking along a river, or if they mow property,” near wetlands, she said.

A turtle crossing project organized by the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association recruited volunteers in 2007 to place signs on their property to alert motorists to the presence of turtles. The signs were placed in areas where turtles were known to cross roads.

Two of those turtle crossings are at Cheshire Street near Blacks Road and Peck Lane near West Johnson Avenue. Motorists are asked to drive more slowly in those areas and be aware of the possibility that turtles could be in the road. Another turtle crossing, which wasn't posted by QRWA volunteers, is near Norton Farms on Academy Road. A wetlands there attracts snapping turtles.

Professional wetland scientist Sigrun Gadwa of Cheshire has written extensively about the fate of turtles in town. She writes on her blog: The Sustainable Landscape http://sustainableland.wordpress.com, that eastern box turtles were quite common less than 50 years ago, but now are very difficult to find.

 “These are potentially very long-lived turtles (sometimes over 100 years). However, population trends have been steadily downward since the advent of cars and suburban sprawl," Gadwa writes.

"In the 21st century there are more hazards (e.g. traffic, lawnmowers), so that adults die sooner, on average, and lay fewer nests of eggs in their life time,” Gadwa continued. “Fewer eggs hatch because ironically the abundance of nest/egg predators such as skunks and raccoons is higher in suburbia relative to rural American and forest land."

Gadwa wrote that most turtle travel takes place on the day after it's rained. Eastern box turtles prefer pleasant cool weather for hiking and foraging, she states, because they are very sensitive to dehydration. She said their favorite foods are juicy ones: strawberries, mushrooms, slugs, and jewelweed.

Observant hikers may see the hard-to-spot turtles, Simone said, on two of the town’s open space preserves. Look for them on the 185-acre DeDominicis property and the Ten Mile Lowlands preserve.

Home owners who have property next to wetlands should be particularly careful about mowing this spring, Simone noted. “Keep your eye out,” she said.

Gadwa has written a lawn mowing guide to help homeowners know what to look for:

• Be alert while mowing. Be familiar with box turtles which are yellow, orange, tan and black. (See photos with article.)
• Lawns should be kept short enough that turtles can be easily seen (less than four inches). 
•  Fields and  brush should be cut when turtles are least active, not within a day after it rains, if possible.

 For more information on the DEP’s Year of the Turtle program, go to their website at www.ct.gov/dep/yearofturtle. For more information about PARC and turtles around the world, go to www.yearoftheturtle.org.