It’s a sure sign of summer at NC’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake: resident snapping turtles emerging from the wetlands and heading onto land to lay eggs.
NC’s Sustainability Office has spotted two regular hard-shelled friends and is inviting the college community to name them.
Enter the Turtle Naming Content by July 1 for a chance to win an NCSAC gift card!
“The contest is a great way for Sustainability to engage NC students and employees with our summer turtle monitoring program, which was launched through the Ecosystem Restoration post-graduate certificate program,” said Katie Bristow, Sustainability Program and Outreach Coordinator. “It’s one of the highlights of our summer, and we are grateful to our campus community for reporting turtles they spot in potential danger. Their observations make a big impact.”
Bristow explains that the long-term impact of the program is especially meaningful.
“Some of the turtles nesting in the natural area today likely hatched shortly after the College purchased the property and transformed the former sewage lagoons into the thriving habitat we see and love today.”
About the Turtle Monitoring program
Since 1997, the College has conducted turtle monitoring to safeguard two ecologically significant species of great concern – the painted turtle and snapping turtle – safeguard nests and develop an approach for monitoring that aligns with provincial regulations.
Due to the destruction and loss of wetlands caused by construction as well as road mortality, the two turtle species in our campus wetlands are extremely threatened. The sheer number of predators, including raccoons, minks, skunks, and coyotes, also poses a threat to their existence. Additionally, snapping turtles mature later in life than other turtle species, which results in a slow rate of reproduction. For this reason, it is important to safeguard both the adults and the young.
Learn more: niagaracollege.ca/sustainability/turtle-monitoring
