Our Turtle Eggs Are Hatching!

This summer, our Conservation Science team has been conducting field work on pollinators, eels, bats and turtles (to name only a few projects!).

Added to the regular turtle surveying, our team collected the eggs of at-risk turtles (Blanding’s and Snapping) laid along roadsides. Roadsides may seem suitable to turtles as they look for open areas of sand or soil to bury eggs. Sadly, the eggs that are laid there have a high risk of being destroyed. So, our turtle team were out at all hours patiently gathering eggs once females had done their duty and left. (Please don’t try this at home as special permits and expertise are needed!)

Now, many weeks later, our little turtles are hatching quickly. Once all the eggs from a nest are hatched, the young will be released together in the area they were laid — only this time they will be a safe distance from the road!

CWF staff and interns have been in awe of these little wonders. We are proud to be a part of helping these at-risk-species, even if indirectly (watch our live turtle cam feed below!).

CWF Freshwater Turtle Specialist Dave Seburn shows us the turtle eggs in the incubator.
Blanding’s Turtles at different stages of hatching
Snapping Turtle resting after the big shell break
A Blanding’s Turtle just hatched
Our mini wading pools keep the turtles hydrated while waiting for the rest of their clutch to hatch
CWF Researcher Hannah McCurdy-Adams holds a hatchling turtle.
CCC participants Cassy Stor and Marika Kitchen holding turtle hatchling.
Thrilled CWF staff and interns enjoy a photo op

CWF’s Role in Freshwater Turtle Conservation

The Canadian Wildlife Federation continues to work with regional partners, community groups, lake associations and individuals to reduce risks to turtles. We continue to carry out on the ground surveys to document at-risk turtle locations and HELP PROTECT their habitat. We have also undertaken an analysis of hotspots where turtles are more susceptible to being hit on the road. Finally, we continue to work with partners to outfit turtles with radio transmitters to track movement, habitat use, nesting sites and overwintering sites.

Turtle Eggs Hatching

All of our eggs hatched! We have released them back into the wild. This video is a recording of a batch of snapping turtles as they worked hard to hatch.

Learn more about freshwater turtles at HelpTheTurtles.ca