Loading...
June 21, 2007 - Dangerous lives of turtlesI OA • The Suffolk Times • June 21, 2007 Dangerous lives of turtles "Look what we found!" called Deb from the car that pulled into the driveway. Knowing there are surprises all around us, I quickly headed for Deb, who was holding a small white bucket. When I looked in I couldn't see anything unusual — some leaves and blades of grass and what appeared to be a small piece of bark. "What am I looking for ?" I asked. "Keep looking" came the reply. Then I saw it. There in all its wonder FOCUS was a tiny dia- mondback terra- pin. It must have NATURE Just hatched out, and with its head by Paul and legs neatly Stoutenburgh tucked inside its shell, it took me some time before I could recognize our local saltwater turtle. When you are on the water you of- ten see their thumb-size heads as they pop up for air in our creeks and bays. The males grow up to five inches and the females grow six to nine inches. With the exception of the winter months, when they hibernate in the mud, they spend their entire lives in the water; the exception being when the female comes ashore to lay her eggs in the warm sand, leaving them to be incubated by the sun. Look for diamondbacks sunning themselves on buoys or other floating objects. As soon as you get too close, they slip off into the water and disap- pear. Recently we saw an unusually large group of these diamondback ter- rapins sunning themselves on a big rock out in the water in Dam Pond in Fast Marion. Their main sources of food are crustaceans, mollusks, fiddler crabs, snails and even an unlucky killifi sh that wasn't paying enough attention to what sometimes looks like nothing at all but in reality is death in disguise. They are excellent scavengers and can pick up the scent of a dead animal or fish at a great distance. And here's where the sticky problem of death by "friendly fire" comes in. By that I mean diamondbacks are killed unintention- ally in crab traps A turtle will catch the odor of a fish head or some chicken parts and follow it to its source, which could be someone's baited crab trap. Being so close to the odor of a decay- ing fish head or chicken part spurs the turtle on. Round and round it goes try- ing to get at those delectable goodies Finally our diamondback finds an entrance into the trap. It slips in and immediately rashes over to the "piece de resistance" and starts eating. All goes well until a breath of fresh air is needed, and then "How do I get out of this contraption ?" it wonders Round and round it goes looking for an exit that is purposely difficult to find. Panic takes over as the turtle slowly becomes weaker and weaker from lack of air because it can't surface to breathe. Finally all its energy is spent and our turtle becomes a casualty in today's world of complex living. I know this story well, for I have seen diamondback turtles caught in crab traps. It's one of the unsolved dilemmas in our local creeks. This isn't something new, for crab traps have been used for '`4 hundreds of years One thing that's cut down the death rate of these diamond- backs in crab traps is education. We're finding that if crab traps are checked more often the turtles can be saved. It's when traps go unattended for long pe- riods of time that disaster strikes Some states are working on an entrance to the trap that will allow the crabs in, but not the turtles, called a turtle excluder. As I looked at this quarter -size dia- mondback, I wondered what pitfalls it would encounter. To follow its fife, we have to go back to the springtime when the female laid her eggs in a sandy spot along one of our beaches Luck has to be on its side, for Mr. Rac- coon and Mr. Fox can always smell out the clutch of eggs and enjoy a meal. Having escaped the ravages of predators, the little quarter -size baby turtle can climb out of its shell and head out into the world of reality. We interrupted its travel today for about SO,& Tm Nholos by Paul SI-1 -hu,gh Top: This quarts► -size baby turtle came from an egg that was laid in the soft sand along the upper beach. Once free from predators, it finds its way to the water, where it will spend the rest of its life, with the exception of the fe- male's coming ashore to lay her eggs. Middle: Here we see an adult dia- mondback terrapin, our only local saltwater turtle. Often you see just the head popping up for air in our creeks and bays. Bottom: A view of the diamondback terrapin to show the unique webbed back foot that helps in swimming and, most importantly, digs the hole where the eggs are laid. an hour so we could photograph this tiny one- or two- day -old turtle. Then we took it back to where it was found and let it go. We wished it Godspeed and hoped that some day it would give others joy as it had given uS There's an interesting story about turtles in Mud Creek in Cutchogue that goes back a long way. Lois Allen, who lived on Skunk Lane in the '20s when there was still a bridge that con- nected Skunk Lane to Little Neck, tells us that Monroe Baldwin raised turtles or terrapins in pens She re- members three pens on the left side of the bridge and roadway going across to Mr. Baldwin's home. She says he raised these turtles or terrapins for a man who lived up on the Sound and was probably a com- mercial buyer who took them to the markets At that time they brought top dollar, and turtle soup was a big item in many of the famous restaurants. Although the pilings and roadway can still be seen, the bridge across to Little Neck is no longer there. It went down in the '30s. What is interesting is that the little diamondback terrapin brought to us this week was found just to the right of where that bridge crossed over to Mr. Baldwin's home and where he kept his turtle pens The News - Review • June 21, 2007 an e i0ves of turtle, "Look what we found!" called Deb from the car that pulled into the driveway. Knowing there are surprises all around us, I quickly headed for Deb, who was holding a small white bucket. When I looked in I couldn't see anything unusual — some leaves and blades of grass and what appeared to be a small piece of bark. "What am I looking for ?" I asked. "Keep looking" came the reply. Then I saw it. There in all its wonder FOCUS was a tiny dia- mondback terra- pin. It must have NATURE just hatched out, and with its head by Paul and legs neatly Stoutenburgh tucked inside its _ shell, it took me some time befor I could recognize our local saltwater turtle. When you are on the water you of- ten see their thumb -size heads as they pop up for air in our creeks and bays. The males grow up to five inches and the females grow six to nine inches. With the exception of the winter months, when they hibernate in the mud, they spend their entire lives in the water; the exception being when the female comes ashore to lay her eggs in the warm sand, leaving them to be incubated by the sun. Look for diamondbacks sunning themselves on buoys or other floating objects. As soon as you get too close, they slip off into the water and disap- pear. Recently we saw an unusually large group of these diamondback ter- rapins sunning themselves on a big rock out in the water in Dam Pond in East Marion. Their main sources of food are crustaceans, mollusks, fiddler crabs, snails and even an unlucky killifish that wasn't paying enough attention to what sometimes looks like nothing at all but in reality is death in disguise. They are excellent scavengers and can pick up the scent of a dead animal or fish at a great distance. And here's where the sticky problem of death by "friendly fire" comes in. By that I mean diamondbacks are killed unintention- ally in crab traps. A turtle will catch the odor of a fish head or some chicken parts and follow it to its source, which could be someone's baited crab trap. Being so close to the odor of.a decay- ing fish head or chicken part spurs the turtle on. Round and round it goes try- ing to get at those delectable goodies. Finally our diamondback finds an entrance into the trap. It slips in and immediately rushes over to the "piece de resistance" and starts eating. All goes well until a breath of fresh air is needed, and then "How do I get out of this contraption ?" it wonders. Round and round it goes looking for an exit that is purposely difficult to find. Panic takes over as the turtle slowly becomes weaker and weaker from lack of air because it can't surface to breathe. Finally all its energy is spent and our turtle becomes a casualty in today's world of complex living. I know this story well, for I have seen diamondback turtles caught in crab traps. It's one of the unsolved dilemmas in our local creeks. This isn't something new, for crab traps have Top: This quarter -size baby turtle ca from an egg that was laid in the s sand along the upper beach. Once fi from predators, it finds its way to i water, where it will spend the rest is life, with the exception of the vale's coming ashore to lay her e9i ddle: Here we see )ndback terrapin, o Itwater turtle. Often e head popping up an aauit ur only I you see for air in Bottom: A view of the diamond terrapin to show the unique we back foot that helps in swim and, most importantly, digs the where the eggs are laid. been used for hundreds of years. One thing that's cut down the death rate of these diamondbacks in crab traps is education. We're finding that if crab traps are checked more often the turtles can be saved. It's when traps g( unattended for long periods of time that disaster strikes. Some states are working on an entrance to the trap that will allow the crabs in, but not the turtles, called a turtle excluder. As I looked at this auarter -size dia- would encounter. To follow its life; we have to go back to the springtime wher the female laid her eggs in a sandy spol along one of our beaches. Luck has to be on its side, for Mr. Raccoon and Mr. Fox can always smell out the clutch of eggs and enjoy a meal. Having escaped the ravages of pred- ators, the little quarter -size baby turtle can climb out of its shell and head out into the world of reality. We interrupt- ed its travel today for about an hour so we could photograph this tiny one- or wo- ay -old turtle. Then we took it back to where it was found and let it go. We wished it Godspeed and hoped that some day it would give others joy as it had given us. There's an interesting story about turtles in Mud Creek in Cutchogue that goes back a long way. Lois Allen, who lived on Skunk Lane in the '20s when there was still a bridge that con- nected Skunk Lane to Little Neck, tells us that Monroe Baldwin raised turtles or terrapins in pens. She remembers three pens on the left side of the bridge and roadway going across to Mr. Bald - win's home. She says he raised these turtles or terrapins for a man who lived up on the Sound and was probably a com- mercial buyer who took them to the markets. At that time they brought top dollar, and turtle soup was a big item in many of the famous res- taurants. Although the pilings and roadway can still be seen, the bridge across to Little Neck is no longer there. It went down in the '30s. What is interesting is that the little dia- mondback terrapin brought to us this week was found just to the right of where that bridge crossed over to Mr. Baldwin's home and where he kept