Most people don't expect to find prairie rattlesnakes in Illinois, but these incredible reptiles are actually native to our state. One of my favorite experiences at the University of Illinois has been helping care for our prairie rattlesnakes. Because these snakes are venomous, every student who works with them completes [...]
https://youtu.be/WTBsCkpdbcw?is=GmTo0DgMV_dKZ0dw
This week, we had some visitors from the Reinke Lab of Northeastern Illinois University! Led by Dr. Beth Reinke, the lab typically studies painted turtles at a field site in northern Wisconsin. This year though, one of the lab's students, Gail, has been with us in the field working on their project on Blanding's turtle [...]
Biosecurity isn’t the most glamorous aspect of veterinary medicine and research, but it is crucial to the industry and the work we do in the Wildlife Epidemiology Lab. It is a pillar of our standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the field, laboratory, or when handling our research animals. Establishing biosecurity protocols helps to protect individuals, [...]
Nothing I write in this blog will hold a candle to the saga penned by my Blanding's compatriot Sathvik last week. In an effort to creatively compare, this week's blog post will be written exclusively in the ancient art form of the haiku. -- When turtle tracking, Found a weird looking turtle. They call him Flat [...]
https://youtu.be/DDYzI7H8uMc
If you've ever looked closely at a turtle's shell during one of our field seasons, you may have noticed a series of tiny notches along the edge of its shell. At first glance, they might look like random markings...but they're anything but random. Those tiny notches are actually one of the most powerful tools [...]
Perhaps the most important event in wildlife-based competition happened last week: Blanding's Bowl! Before we recap the 13th annual edition of this competition, let me catch you up to speed on what Blanding's Bowl is. Originally conceived by Blanding's turtle forefather Gary Glowacki in 2013, the once simple celebratory competition between Lake County technicians has [...]
While we obviously have a special place in our hearts for turtles, it’s Kane County’s turn to talk about something other than turtles. This week was an eventful week full of slithery little snakes. Another part of our work here involves checking previously set snake boards at various sites around the county. Snake boards are [...]
Finding a wild box turtle is always exciting. After hours of hiking through forests and prairies spotting that familiar domed shell tucked beneath vegetation never gets old. But while finding the turtle may be the highlight of the day, it's actually just the beginning of the story. Once a turtle is located, our field [...]
