Turtle Lady
opens sanctuary on
By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital
As
In 2003, the governor eliminated Ms. Whilden's job amid
widespread budget cuts.
"The DNR program ended, but interest in
turtles didn't," said Ms. Whilden, a St. Margarets resident and mother or
two.
Ms. Whilden, known as the Turtle Lady,
established the Terrapin Institute, which this year began leasing a portion of
a wildlife refuge in the Loch Haven section of Edgewater, directly across the
South River from Quiet Waters Park.
From there, she coordinates her programs
designed to protect the diamondback terrapin population and secures community
support or space to store hatchlings or wounded turtles, or tag the ones
captured by watermen.
"I'm very happy we've found a home for
Marguerite and all that she does with the terrapins," said Dennis
Callaghan, director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation. "She
has the credibility and the passion."
The sanctuary, which is off-limits to all
unscheduled visitors, is "an ideal setting for hatchlings," she said.
"They are protected from boaters."
She held up a large turtle. Its front legs had
been rubbed raw from climbing on riprap and showed evidence of being banged
about by a boat's propeller.
More ominous are the picnickers who scatter
debris turtles can choke on, or devil-may-care campers who leave campfires
burning.
Signs are being placed around the sanctuary
warning boaters away, stating: "Please do not disturb the beach. No foot
traffic. No Dogs!"
She's also concerned that poachers will find
the site attractive to rustle turtle eggs and hatchlings for retail sale.
But even left undisturbed as a safe beachhead
for terrapins to nest and lay eggs, less than 3 percent of all eggs produce
live hatchlings and few of those survive to adulthood.
On a recent visit, Ms. Whilden pointed out
several holes in the ground that appeared to be lined with shreds of beige
paper. The shreds were turtle eggs that had been dug up by raccoons, ripped
open and sucked dry of their contents.
On a bluff lay the dried carcass of a dead
adult female who had come ashore to lay eggs. A raccoon had attacked it,
dragged it up the bluff and tore open the underbelly to get at the eggs inside.
Other natural predators include foxes, hawks
and eagles. Crows like to snap up turtle eggs, too. Turtle hatchlings are
catnip for waterfowl and big fish.
Through a program she established, hundreds of
turtle hatchlings have been distributed to school classrooms and private
citizens across the state to care for until the critters are big enough to be
released into the wild. Even Cantler's Restaurant got into the act and was
raising terrapins in one of its large bay water tanks.
Ms. Whilden encouraged an aggressive program
of purchasing turtles caught in fishermen's nets, paying an average of $4 per
turtle. The reptiles are tagged on their shell with a red plastic tab and
released back into the water. "We've had to purchase one turtle four times
already," Ms. Whilden laughed.
The institute, run entirely by the unpaid Ms.
Whilden, longtime intern Jeff Popp and occasional college interns, has also
gotten help from the
Now the Institute is seeking alliances with
private waterfront owners who are interested in establishing turtle habitats on
their property.
"I want to work with incoming new owners,
so they don't go directly to bulkheads or rip-rap," she stated, adding the
institute can access experts who can advise homeowners of the benefits of
natural shorelines versus "hardened" waterfront.
"If we're really going to save this bay,
then let's do it. When we're in the middle of a heart attack, it's not time to
go to the library to study up on it."
For more information about The Terrapin
Institute and its programs visit www.terrapininstitute.org.
Wendi Winters is a freelance writer in the
Broadneck area.
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