Turtle Wife’s Newsletter:
TURTLE STORIES, NEWS & VIEWS
September 2008

© Anita Salzberg

www.turtlewife.com

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Hi Turtle Lovers,

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Thanks, and enjoy the issue!

Anita Salzberg, Turtle Wife & Editor-in-Chief

P.S. All links in each issue are live and working at the time the newsletter is emailed to you—however, be aware that some sites take down their links within a week.

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If you have a turtle story you'd like to share, send it to Anita and I'll post it in a future newsletter.

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WORLDWIDE TURTLE STORY ROUNDUP
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THE SUN (Toronto, Ontario) 11 September
Turtle trapper fined (Neil Bowen)

Sarnia: A Scarborough man caught gathering endangered turtles for exotic meals was fined $10,000 yesterday in a Sarnia court.

Kung Wing So, 52, pleaded guilty to two 2007 offences under the Species at Risk Act for unlawful possession of 27 turtles. It was the first Ontario conviction under the 2004 federal legislation, federal prosecutor Michael Robb said.

The 26 Blanding's turtles and one spotted turtle had been trapped on Walpole Island.

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TIMES FREE PRESS (Chattanooga, Tennessee) 10 September 08
Turtle Survival Alliance helps endangered turtles worldwide
Kathy Gilbert

David Manser, a Dayton, Tenn., nurseryman, raises more than tropical fish and rare plant species.

Ponds & Plants, a nursery on Highway 27, is also the home of Burmese black mountain tortoises rescued from a Hong Kong food market, Vietnamese pond turtles that now live only in zoos and a pair of Greek tortoises with herpes.

Living in a small town in Southeast Tennessee has been no barrier to his efforts to help global species conservation, Mr. Manser said.

“We'll breed these (animals) and, maybe, reintroduce them into the wild, or even give them to anyone crazy enough to keep these as pets, so we can get the demand on the wild population reduced,” Mr. Manser said.

Two out of three turtle and tortoise species worldwide are extinct, endangered or threatened, according to the Turtle Survival Alliance, a nonprofit tortoise and turtle conservation group.

Read more

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DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 10 September 08
Shell-shocked: Carp fisherman catches Mississippi snapping turtle in British lake

When fisherman Drew Hammonds saw a spiky armour-plated creature at the end of his line, he made a snap decision.

He dropped his rod and started to run. But after a quick look back he realised he had landed a snapping turtle.

And being so far from its native U.S., it was very snappy indeed.

Mr Hammonds, 37, caught the turtle early last Tuesday while fishing with friends at Earlswood Lake near Birmingham.

'I only went fishing for carp,' he said. 'I thought I'd caught a big one when my rod started to bend.

'Then I spotted a big shell coming out of the water, with spikes on its back.

'My first instinct was to run, as I thought it was a crocodile or an alligator. I dropped my rod and ran, then I turned back and realised it was a turtle.

I was with four of my friends and they were just as stunned.

'It was hissing and spitting when we caught it - it was really vicious. You couldn't go anywhere near it without it going for you.

'It ripped through my net and my friend's net.' Worried that the turtle was hurt, the men tried to remove the hook in its mouth before putting it back in the water.

Read more

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THE OLYMPIAN (Olympia, Washington) 10 September 08
Hundreds volunteer to return tortoise to Mojave
Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press

Coeur D'alene, Idaho: Dave and Ginger Ludwick were more than willing to give a desert tortoise a ride home with them.

The Ludwicks, vacationing from Palm Desert, Calif., at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, were headed back to the Golden State on Wednesday and offered to have the 10-inch reptile jump in their back seat.

After all, Sadie needs to get back to the Mojave Desert, which is where the couple live.

"It seems so natural. I don't think there's a more direct ride home," Ginger said.

Read more

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Black Market Turtles Legal in Washington, Illegal in Oregon
By Rudabeh Shahbazi

KENNEWICK—After saying red-eared slider turtles are illegal in both Oregon and Washington, the Fish and Wildlife officials clarified that they are legal in Washington, but illegal in Oregon.

Oregon State Police found 728 prohibited turtles when they raided a Hermiston home earlier this month.

After Action News aired the story, tips started to pour in. People had bought the red-eared sliders at flea markets and festivals all over Washington and eastern Oregon.

Melannie Dickinson bought some at a local pet store, and was relieved to hear the news that her daughter can legally keep them.

"My daughter's really going to be happy that she doesn't have to get rid of it," said Dickinson. "When I told her that we might, she was really upset, so I'm glad."

Even though the turtles are legal in Washington now, reps from the ODFW said they are considering instituting a ban similar to the one in Oregon.

"It's amazing what you can find in flea markets that aren't legal," said Mike Long, who owns Aqua Tropics Pet Store.

Long sells red-eared sliders occasionally, and said restrictions are instituted for good reason. The turtles can spread salmonella, and take over native species. He said there is a safe way to buy and sell them.

"We actually don't just sell them to anybody," he said. "We actually explain what is required to keep them and the health problems and everybody that buys one also gets a care sheet."

If you have a red-eared slider and you live in Washington, you're OK, as long as you don't release it into the wild or take it across state lines.

If you live in Oregon, call ODFW or OSP immediately. You won't be penalized.

Thanks to reader Pat Nelson for submitting this story.

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DAILY CHRONICLE (Bozeman, Montana) 16 September 08
Turtle tales (Gail Schontzler)

Ocean waves crashed on the beach the night that LeAnne Yenny sat on a driftwood log and peered into the blackness, hoping to see by the light of the moon a few of the world's largest turtles.

“It was so surreal,” Yenny recalled. “It's amazing to sit there and watch, out of the darkness of the night comes this huge, prehistoric creature.”

Yenny, 34, a seventh-grade science and math teacher at Sacajawea Middle School, traveled to Trinidad in June to learn about leatherback turtles, a species that has survived 100 million years, but today is endangered.

Her proposed trip won a $2,500 Cashman-Rinker award, given to one Bozeman public school teacher each year. The award, named to honor two former School Board trustees, has helped teachers pursue subjects they're passionate about and bring back new ideas to their classrooms.

“I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it was,” Yenny said.

She applied to Earth Expeditions for the chance to join 14 other teachers and zoo educators in gaining hands-on experience with the turtles.

Read more

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SUNCOAST NEWS (Hudson, Florida) 16 September 08
Threatened Gopher Tortoises From Hudson Get New Home In Panhandle (Cheryl Bentley)

Recently in Hudson, an ancient species got a little help to make it through the 21st century.

In a win-win undertaking, animal welfare and environmental protection organizations joined forces with a developer to move 114 gopher tortoises. The slow-moving reptiles were transplanted from the 10-acre Hudson Apartments housing development site at S. R. 52, in the Hudson area, to Nokuse Plantation, a 50,000-acre private conservation area in Walton County, in the Panhandle.

It was one of what the Humane Society hopes will be other future partnerships with developers to relocate the tortoises. A grant from the Orlando-based Folke H. Peterson Foundation funded the project.

It was an undertaking her company fully supported, said Shannon Lee, development associate with The Richman Group ofFlorida. The West Palm Beach-based firm could not have done the tortoise relocation on its own because of the cost, she said.

The Humane Society of the United States and Carissa Kent and David Commodario, a couple from Orlando, handled the four-day project of finding the tortoises in their burrows and transporting them to the relocation site.

Read more

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ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION (Georgia) 14 September 08
Georgia turtles' future slippery - Unprotected: Law treats 13 freshwater species no better than pests, and experts fear some are in big trouble. (Mark Davis)

There may be harder ways to make $800 in a week, but Kirk DeKalb doesn't want to know about them. He's waded swamps, swatted mosquitoes and run the very real risk of nasty bites, just to pocket that amount.

And that's on a good week, DeKalb says.

A bad week? Well, at 75 cents to $2 a pound for a kicking, angry snapping turtle, he's not getting rich.

“If I work hard, I can make $800 to $1,000” trapping and selling different species of freshwater turtles, DeKalb said. “But who do you know who wants to work 75 hours in a week to make $800?”

It takes a lot of turtles to swing that sum, and that worries state biologists. They are hosting a meeting this week to discuss changing laws to help protect snappers, cooters, sliders and other unprotected hard-backed reptiles living in the wild. It is Department of Natural Resources' second “stakeholders meeting” of people who have an interest in the turtle trade.

This is no time to move slowly, state herpetologist John Jensen said. He does not know how many turtles live in Georgia's ponds, rivers or other waterways. Counting them “would be a very daunting task,” he said.

But he is confident that the turtles need help. Nineteen species of freshwater turtles are native to Georgia; 13 of them aren't protected by state or federal law. If statutes aren't changed to protect them, he said, the fate of turtles here could match that of those in Southeast Asia. There, he said, “they have been eaten to the point of extinction.”

In Georgia, freshwater turtles are part of the “unlucky 14,” a term biologists use to describe nongame species whose hunting or capture isn't regulated. “Unlucky” animals include coyotes, armadillos, rats and other creatures with a public relations problem. DeKalb and anyone else can trap as many of these animals as they want without getting a permit or fearing they are breaking any regulation or statute.

Read more

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ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE (Fayetteville) 14 September 08
Product moves slowly but traffic in turtles brisk (Nancy Cole)

Balch: The solid metal fences surrounding Marcus Balch's turtle ponds are your first tip that his farm is not a run-of-the-mill aquaculture operation.

“Everything about turtles is different,” said Balch, who — along with son Scott — operates Northeast Arkansas Turtle Farm in eastern Jackson County.

The farm produces mainly red-eared sliders, common snapping turtles and spiny softshell turtles for sale as pets and as food, Balch said. Almost all the turtles are shipped by air from Little Rock in cardboard boxes, destined for brokers in the United States, Mexico, Europe and China, he said.

Balch, who operates eight turtle ponds and is building two more, was one of 19 Arkansans who bought an aquatic turtle breeder (farmer) permit from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

In 2005, when the U. S. Department of Agriculture prepared its most recent Census of Aquaculture, only 99 turtle farms were counted nationwide in 12 states — 71 of them in Louisiana, five each in Florida and Iowa, and three each in Arkansas and Alabama.

Louisiana, which leads the nation in turtle production, had 62 turtle farms in 2007 that produced 10. 45 million turtles worth $6. 27 million, according to Louisiana State University's AgCenter. Louisiana's turtle farms are concentrated south of Baton Rouge and east of Alexandria, said Greg Lutz, a specialist with the AgCenter's Aquaculture Research Station in Baton Rouge.

Turtles are relatively simple to raise, Lutz said.

“They're a little skittish. So, if you establish a new pond, it may take one or two years for them to really begin to lay their eggs reliably,” he said.

In 1975, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale or distribution of turtles with shells that measure less than 4 inches long because of concerns about the transmission of Salmonella. Louisiana requires all hatchlings to be tested and certified salmonella-free, Lutz said.

Most Arkansas turtle farms have relatively small ponds, about one-half acre or less, stocked with about 10, 000 turtles, said George Selden, a Newport-based aquaculture specialist with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's Aquaculture / Fisheries Center.

Unlike catfish ponds, turtle ponds don't require aerators becauseturtles are air breathers, Selden said. Turtles also don't require as much food as do catfish, because most turtles are omnivores that supplement their diets with naturally occurring plants and animals, he said.

One of the greatest challenges in farming turtles successfully is navigating the “very tricky market,” much of which is overseas, Selden said. For that reason, turtle farming is probably more like baitfish farming, “in which you have to establish relationships with individual clients,” he said.

Balch, who has raised baitfish for about 30 years, branched out into turtles six years ago. The new business is particularly labor intensive during the nesting season, he said.

From mid-May to mid-August, three employees and everyone in the extended Balch family stay busy collecting turtle eggs. The eggs are washed, dried and set in incubation trays that contain a bed of moist vermiculite and moss.

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UNION-TRIBUNE (San Diego, California) 13 September 08
Society remains true to turtles - Devoted membership keeps foster homes for unwanted (Sharon A. Heilbrunn)

San Diego: When Kim Thomas was a little boy, he saw a tortoise with a cracked shell crossing the road while driving around with his dad. He asked his father if he could keep it.

To this day, Thomas, 51, still has that animal — and about a hundred more tortoises and turtles — in his Clairemont backyard.

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WECT (Wilmington, N Carolina) 12 September 08
Tropical Storm Hanna brought baby turtles to the NC coast (Max Winitz)

Pender County, NC: As waves stirred up by Tropical Storm Hanna crashed into the coast, some of Atlantic's own natives washed ashore as well.

Six tiny sea turtles were found along Carolina, Wrightsville, and Topsail Beaches. Now, they're being cared for at Jean Beasley's famed turtle E.R. in Pender County.

Rescuers believe the turtles hatched somewhere in the Caribbean of off of Florida, and the storm brought them to the North Carolina coast.

A week after the storm, the creatures continue to recover. One of them is named "lefty" because he is missing his right flipper and uses his left to get around.

It takes Beasley and her staff an hour to feed the six newcomers using tweezers. She said they are doing well and should be ready for the ocean soon.

"As soon as they start eating really well, and seem to be doing that on their own, I'm sure Jean will make the phone call to get those people down here. We want them back where they belong. We don't want them in our hospital," said Vicki Salisbury with the sea turtle hospital.

The baby turtles will be taken off shore on a boat when they are released back into the ocean.

Click through for video www.wect.com/global/story.asp?s=9000342

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Find a turtle video link you like? Send it to Anita I’ll include it in the next newsletter.

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Check out turtle lover Linda Hood’s blog, Truffles, Turtles, & Tunes, about Truffles (i.e, vegetarian lifestyle), Turtles, and Tunes (music).

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HERPDIGEST: A Weekly Electronic Newsletter on the Latest News on Reptile and Amphibian Science and Conservation. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Allen Salzberg, Editor/Publisher www.herpdigest.org

THE NEW YORK TURTLE & TORTOISE SOCIETY: A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the conservation, preservation of habitat, and the promotion of proper husbandry and captive propagation of turtles and tortoises. www.nytts.org

TURTLE RESCUE OF LONG ISLAND: A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that works to rehabilitate native turtles and find homes for those that cannot be released. Also takes in and adopts out turtles and tortoises of all species that can no longer be kept for whatever reason. Location, Long Island, New York www.turtlerescues.org

TURTLE HOMES: A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that finds new homes for turtles and tortoises that cannot be returned to the wild. www.turtlehomes.org

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