Arts
How did the turtle cross the road? With help from a few good humans
CAPE NEDDICK - The Mount Agamenticus Conservation Program is hosting a seminar featuring the turtles in York County on Saturday, May 20, at 12:30 p.m. at the Mount Agamenticus Lodge, located on the summit of the mountain.This free, public event will explain how you can help reduce the number of deadly encounters turtles have with motor vehicles every summer.
The Mount Agamenticus region is a haven for some rare species, such as spotted and Blanding's turtles that depend on the area's many vernal pools.
During spring the turtles leave hibernation and look for breeding, feeding and nesting habitat. They will travel long distances and cross many roads in the process. Unfortunately each year there are many that don't make it to the other side. Over the last four years volunteers have helped identify crossing 'hot spots' where signage will now be used to lower the number of turtles lost to vehicles.
This years' seminar will include a presentation titled "Roads and Turtles in York County - A Deadly Mix" given by Frederic Beaudry, Southern Maine Rare Turtle Project leader. He will talk about his current work using radio telemetry to track the movement of more than 30 individual turtles in the area.
Other highlights will include a presentation given by a wildlife rehabilitator from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, a guided hike to a vernal pool led by Frank Dehler, trip leader for the York County Audubon Society, and a volunteer orientation for those who would like to participate in the turtle road survey.
This is the fifth year that a turtle seminar has been held. The seminar is part of a volunteer-driven project funded by the Maine Department of Transportation, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy.
The project's aim is to keep local turtle populations healthy by lowering road mortality. The program relies on volunteers who "adopt" short sections of local roads and hike or bike the road segment regularly during active turtle crossing times to monitor for any evidence of turtles crossing.
The volunteers survey the area for a period of six weeks, from May 28 through July 9.
"This is the period when turtle migration is at its peak," said Robin Stanley, coordinator for the program. "Turtles are crossing many roads during their journey to various feeding and breeding grounds in low lying wetlands and vernal pools. In addition to this, female turtles are again crossing roads traveling to upland nest sites to lay their eggs."
Community members are encouraged to report turtle sightings on roads in the Mount Agamenticus region, even if they are not able to adopt a road segment.
"What people need to remember when calling in with their sightings are the date and time of their turtle sighting as well as what kind of turtle it was and the exact location or road segment. Mailbox or telephone pole numbers and pictures would also be very helpful," Stanley said. "People also need to remember to not take or move turtles to a different location. If it is safe to do so, it's okay to assist a turtle off the road in the direction that it was headed."
After the May 20 seminar, those interested in adopting a road segment to survey will be given a monitoring kit.
"We are especially interested in recruiting volunteers that live in and around the Mount Agamenticus Conservation Region," Stanley noted. "This area includes Emery's Bridge, Ogunquit/North Berwick, Thurrell, Witchtrot, York Woods, Scituate, Chases Pond, Mountain, Clay Hill Farm, and Josiah Norton roads, along with portions of Route 9 in South Berwick to the North Berwick and Wells town border."
For more information, to register for the workshop or to report turtle road sightings, please contact Robin Stanley at 361-1102 or rstanley@tnc.org.
