Some Turtles and Some Trash (16-Apr-2016)

This is another post where I can not give the specific location as to where I did the clean-ups. In this case it is not study sites, but instead protected species were found. I had Joe and Jeff Greco along with me and it was both a clean-up and birding trip. Well we ended up finding cooler reptiles than birds. Thanks to Joe and Jeff for the help cleaning up today! Above was the first reptile find and it was sad. It was the shell of an Eastern Box Turtle. Eastern Box Turtles are a protected species in Pennsylvania. It is unlawful to collect them from the wild (even just a shell like this) and it is illegal to purchase or sell them here. If you find one in the wild, leave them in the wild, it is where they belong.

A much better find because this one was living. This is a Wood Turtle, another protected species in PA. Same rules apply for this species. This individual was basking in the sun. 

Found a second Wood Turtle which made the day even better. If you ever find Wood Turtles or Box Turtles crossing a road, please stop and help them across. Always take them in the direction they were headed and place them around thirty feet off of the side of the road. 

Every time I find a Wood Turtle I take a photo of their plastron (bottom portion of the shell). This serves two purposes. The first is that it shows me the sex of the Wood Turtle. Males have a concave plastron, whereas females have a flat plastron. Both of the turtles above were males. The second thing the plastron photo shows me is the identification of an individual turtle. Like fingerprints for humans, the markings on the wood turtles plastron are different for every individual. So if I see a turtle in the same area at a different time I can look back through my photos and see if it is the same or a different individual.

Can you spot all four Painted Turtles in this photo? There were a lot of Painted Turtles out enjoying the sun today. Some basking on logs or on the bank and others like these just hanging out on the aquatic vegetation near the water surface. 

 Both Pickerel Frogs and Spring Peepers were heard calling in some areas, but Green Frogs like the one above were the only frog species seen on this trip. 

The first pile of trash from the first location. Joe and Jeff picked up a good portion of this, so to the both of you thanks again!

 The second pile of the day. Seeing the Wood Turtles made this trip awesome. Tomorrow I will be back out with Kelly again looking for salamander sites.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this blog? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA