by CWF Great Bay Terrapin Project Volunteer Intern, Madison Rose O’Malley
Madison holding an adult female terrapin with scars showing damage consistent with an impact with a boat/outboard.
This summer, I had the chance to volunteer for the Great Bay Terrapin Project to help survey the local terrapin population within Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area. Being able to assist a vulnerable population was incredibly fulfilling and I personally was able to learn a lot about their behavior during this incredible time. I got to see firsthand just how many female turtles crossed that road to lay their eggs, but unfortunately that also showed me just how many were injured or killed by reckless, inattentive, or outright malicious drivers. One thing I realized during this is just how hardy of an animal the terrapin is. I saw individuals with massive chunks taken out of them, bite marks, claw marks, and huge gashes from boat propellers forever etched into their shells. I realized that despite their vulnerability in early life and extremely slow growth, the defense of their shell and their insane ability to recover from injuries left them with very few threats for a long time. Even many major boat injuries are recoverable, emphasizing the severity of the threat posed by automobiles specifically.
Since 2021, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) has been partnering with New Jersey Audubon (NJA), New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and New Jersey Fish and Wildlife (NJFW) on bog turtle conservation in Salem County. Though densities in the southern part of the state are understood to be lower than in north Jersey, conserving this metapopulation is a priority as bog turtle numbers continue to decline despite long-term state (endangered since 1974) and federal (threatened since 1997) protections. A primary driver of this decline is habitat loss- but not necessarily in the way you might expect. The shift in plant communities- from grasslands to forests- occurs naturally over time. We call this process “succession”, and it can be both a gift and a curse.
Under normal circumstances, Mother Nature sometimes throws a wrench in the plans of mid- and late-successional species (like oaks and maples, respectively), in the form of disturbances. Beaver activity may cause flooding that inhibits tree growth. Natural fires in healthy forests can thin trees enabling the understory to receive enough sunlight to persist. These burn slower and cooler than wildfires. Some trees, like the longleaf pine in the southern US, even require fire in order to rejuvenate. In some cases, large mammals may eat or break saplings before they have a chance to establish. This apparent “destruction” is actually a good thing- disturbances like these are why we have meadows and prairies. A mosaic of habitat types that run the spectrum of open wetlands to old-growth forest, is key to a high diversity of wildlife.
Etiquette tells us that we shouldn’t have a favorite child. I sometimes wonder if the same rules apply to biologists with regard to our study species. If so, my manners fall woefully short, at least where reptiles are concerned.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been partnering with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on bog turtle conservation initiatives for years. We do this using a multi-faceted approach. We connect landowners with qualifying habitat with federal funding opportunities and technical support that can preserve and restore significant wetlands. We assist the state and nonprofit partners with visual surveys to better understand the status of historic populations. Finally, we suit up with USFWS personnel each fall and winter to remove invasive species and woody vegetation that are shading out nesting spots, rendering bogs and fens inhospitable to turtles. We applied to continue this work for the next few years but decided to shake things up a bit by adding in tasks targeting the protection of the bog turtle’s closest living relative… the wood turtle, a state threatened species that is currently under consideration for federal listing.
CWF biologist Christine Healy with a wood turtle, found during a spring survey. Photo Credit: Connor Zrinko
Although I spend much of my time thinking about reptiles and amphibians, if you were to ask me if I could be classified as a “herper”, my immediate answer would be no. When I go for hikes, my objective is to reach the summit and take in the view- I’m not generally looking to offroad and go slow. I recently compiled a list, however, of all the herps that I have found during my outdoor adventures this year and was shocked to realize that I’ve encountered 31 species of wild turtles, snakes, frogs, and salamanders. Of those, I had the intention of locating 13 as part of my seasonal field assignments for CWF- the rest were all incidental finds. Moreover, despite the period in question being rather lengthy, it was very easy for me to parse apart which species were really 2023 observations versus some other year. And I can recall where I was and what the individual was doing in each case.
Christine’s Reptile/Amphibian list for 2023.(more…)
It’s always fun to learn the collective names for groups of animals. For example, in the amphibian and reptile world, we have an army of frogs; a congress of salamanders; a bale of turtles; and a lounge of lizards. I wonder what quippy term could describe a group of herpetologists- the folks who spend their lives studying the armies, congresses, bales, and lounges? Perhaps… a partnership?
In that case, a partnership of herpetologists from as far south as Virginia all the way up to Maine descended upon Middletown, Connecticut last month. Not to cross some rare species off their life list (though coincidentally, I crossed two off mine), but rather to attend the annual Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) conference, hosted at Wesleyan University.
CWF biologist, Christine Healy, holds a ribbon snake that was located during a NEPARC field trip along a powerline.
