Research no snap( per)
Turtle project aims to learn more about habitat, how it’s used
Road- kill turtles benefitting research on habitat for turtles is working in Cook County in a roundabout way.
Fourteen turtles — six common snappers, five Southern painted and three red- eared sliders — were fitted with radio transmitters Sept. 16, then released back from where they came in an ongoing cooperative research project between the Forest Preserves of Cook County and Friends of the Chicago River.
The turtles were trapped around Thorn Creek near Wampum Lake, then transported to the FPCC’s McGinnis Field Station in Orland Park.
There, they were aged by measuring. That’s where the road- kill comes in, which I found interesting.
Chris Anchor, the FPCC’s senior wildlife biologist, has had a project going for decades to age road- killed turtles. He said there’s data going back far enough to age five of the seven turtles in the Chicago area — snappers, painted, softshell, red- eared and stinkpot ( common musk turtle) — by measuring the carapace, the upper portion of the shell.
The first turtle was a painted, with its carapace measuring 16.9 millimeters by 12.1 millimeters. After measuring, a blood sample was taken.
‘‘ They are so long- lived, they can act as barometers,’’ Anchor said.
Then a tiny electronic tag was attached. Then came the attaching of the radio transmitter, which Anchor said ‘‘ tells us what areas they are utilizing.’’
The radio frequency was set. Then the best spot — each turtle’s carapace is different — was found to paste the transmitter.
That spot on the carapace was wiped clean, then brushed hard with a wire pipe- cleaner brush. Only then was the transmitter affixed with a water- resistant, quick- setting epoxy. Afterward, it needed to be held for three to five minutes for the transmitter to stick.
It was amusing to see Anchor, Friends executive director Margaret Frisbie and Friends conservation programs specialist Claire Snyder standing around McGinnis Field Station with a turtle clamped between their fingers for five minutes.
The object of this study is to find out more about turtle habitat and how it is used in Cook County. The Cook part matters because the county has the highest density of predators in Illinois. That means eggs surviving from being buried to hatched is tough.
One of the ways to help survival is to improve habitat by controlling brush and burning the site, which opens up space for turtles.
Frisbie said there is already some evidence of turtles using improved habitat in the north suburbs. She said they were funded for three years through a grant to study turtle habitat, osprey platforms and bat maternity colonies.
Anchor said they hadn’t been able to ‘‘ synchronize with land management [ before]. But with this cooperation, all the planets aligned.’’ He expects they will find out what turtles do in laying eggs and what they use.
Finally, U. S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist John Hartmann and USDA wildlife specialist Hannah O’Malley lifted up the big- boy snapper, which Anchor estimated was about 30 years old. They carefully did all the paperwork.
After it was fitted with a transmitter, FPCC fisheries biologist Steve Silic improvised and held the big boy on the slats of a wooden pallet to hold the transmitter in place until it set. I stood by to document in case the snapper whipped free and took one of Silic’s digits. But all went smoothly.
The final step was a caravan of turtles to release back into Thorn Creek. Snyder climbed into the creek, and Anchor handed the turtles down to her.
‘‘ Thanks for letting me do this,’’ Snyder said. ‘‘ It was awesome.’’
The turtles lumbered off into the water, transmitters odd.
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