Tracks of the
turtles
By MIKE
UNGER, Staff Writer
Jeff Popp and Julia Grisar are turtle trackers.
Interns with the Terrapin
Institute, the college students spend their summer days creeping through
sand and muck, following footprints left by
From May through July, female diamondback terrapins emerge
from the
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"We're trying to get an idea of how many of these
animals there are and where they are," said Mr. Popp, a senior at
Diamondback terrapins prefer to lay their eggs on sandy,
beachlike terrain, but a decline in that habitat is forcing more and more to
use grass, mulch and even rocky areas.
That's bringing them closer to populated
areas, and making them more visible to people.
About 20 minutes after laying their eggs, the females
return to the water. Eggs that remain in someone's waterfront yard, for
instance, can heat up too quickly, reducing the chances of healthy young being
born.
The interns are asking anyone who witnesses the process to
call them.
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Mr. Popp, a herpetology student who's been working with
terrapins for six years, and Ms. Grisar, a biology
major at the
They also tag females, in hopes that a waterman who hauls
one up from the bottom of the bay will throw her back.
"We want to protect the abundance of diamondback terrapins,"
said Marguerite Whilden, co-founder of the institute. "We have no idea how
many there are."
Terrapin supporters fear that the population is dwindling,
pointing to ever-increasing riprap in developments that robs the reptiles of
their favored nesting grounds.
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However, no figures exist to back up their claims. No
comprehensive study of the population has been done, said Ms. Whilden, a former
terrapin expert with the Department of Natural Resources.
She and others at the institute are calling for a fishing
moratorium on the terrapins.
"
Ms. Whilden was quick to say that she doesn't blame
watermen or seafood markets for taking part in a legal fishery. In fact, she
credited some in those industries for alerting her when terrapins are on the
market.
The institute aggressively buys terrapins, which sell for
about $4 each, in an effort to save them from the soup kettle.
If the state enacts a moratorium, Ms. Whilden would support
compensating commercial watermen who harvest terrapins. She believes there are
about five in the state who do so.
Last year, watermen hauled in 676 pounds of terrapins,
according to the DNR. An average female weighs 1 pounds.
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Primarily females are harvested, because they usually grow
to twice the size of males.
Aside from man, terrapins' predators include raccoons,
foxes, hawks and eagles. Hatchlings that emerge from incubators at Arlington
Echo often are sent to one of the institute's Head Start programs, where
they're raised by school-children until they're big enough to be released.
Diamondback terrapins are the only brackish water turtles
in
The interns and others have tagged more than 1,200 turtles
already this year. Over the last four years, more than 2,500 have been tagged.
"They're like snowflakes - every marking is
different," Mr. Popp said. "They're beautiful."
If you see a female diamondback terrapin or a nest and want
to contact the Terrapin Institute, call Jeff Popp at 443-804-5564.
munger@capitalgazette.com
Raising Diamondback
Terrapins
text and photos courtesy
of the MD Dept. of Natural Resources
January 2000 Jeff Popp
is a junior at
Part of Jeff’s work includes the development of a journal
to inform the public, and volunteers of the Turtle Tots program, of
experiences, observations, and stories about the program. His job is to share
his experiences from a teenage point of view. What follows is a journal entry
Jeff made about a rough night he spent with one of his terrapins this past
winter.
Never, never, never give up!
by Jeff Popp
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Everything was going fine. My
family had fallen in love with the terpies. They were growing fast and their
weight and plastron length was recorded every two weeks. They were eating
like monsters. They recognized me as "One who brings us food." They even were the stars of a presentation done at my
school on the Diamondback terrapin, by Marguerite Whilden, the turtle tots project
leader, and I. It was great, and I thanked Marguerite for a fabulous job. The
students learned everything from how to tell male and female terrapins apart
to how the terrapin was a major food source in the turn of the century. It
got the students interested in conservation as well. Marguerite has even been
invited back to do more presentations. Between a rock and a hard place Last Saturday night, 1/22/00, I came home from visiting
my uncle, who is very ill, and decided to check on my turtle tots before
going to bed. It was a good thing that I did! Larry and Moe were fine, but
Curly was stuck between a rock and a hard place, literally. He must have been
like that for at least an hour, unable to surface for breaths of air. I pulled him out. My dad was certain he was dead, but I
was determined to bring him back. I remember Marguerite saying terps can be
revived after being dead for up to a day. The only problem was, I forgot how. I tried everything from pinching his foot
to rubbing his neck to squeezing his body to get the water out. He showed no
sign of life whatsoever. I asked Dad to get me a bag to freeze him in, as the
project requires the return of any deceased specimens for study. As he left I
held the lifeless turtle up to my ear to listen for a heartbeat or breath or
tiny movement to tell me he was alive. I heard nothing. I tried once more,
not expecting anything, but to my surprise, he gasped for air. I immediately
took action and started gently squeezing his plastron and carapace together
to get his heart going again. A long night I would do it about five times, and then he would gasp
for air and squirt water from his mouth. I did that for about a half an hour
and he started to breathe by himself. I did not want
to take the chance of losing him overnight, so I laid on my bed with him on
my chest for about another hour. Every time he would put his head down I would gently
squeeze his shell together, just to make sure he was breathing. Finally, I
put him in a bucket with a damp cloth for the night. It is important that you
keep them out of the water and cool for few days after something like this happens. If terps are warm, they use more oxygen. In a case like
this, they need to conserve all the oxygen they can. Also, don't put them
back in the water. They have pretty much had all the water they can stand for
a couple of days and swimming could only do them harm.
Finally, at - Jeff Popp |