What information is collected when you find a turtle?  This week we are focussing on a common question most of the WEL team has been asked by friends, family, and the general public. The general procedures for on-site sampling as well as what we record on our Health Assessment data sheet will be discussed below.  [...]

We are proud to present to you the collaboration of the generation as we compare our shelly sidekicks to SpongeBob's notorious crew! Blanding's Turtles are the main character of the show aka SpongeBob. Not only do most of the Wildlife Epidemiology Lab’s projects surround the health of blanding's turtles, they also have bright [...]

Our tackle boxes Contains Small and large plasma tubes Extra 2ml eppendorf tubes Extra Lithium heparin (anticoagulant) tubes A handful of syringes A scale Each of us has a scale type: 1 large hanging scale used to weigh our big turtles (>5kg) (softshells & snappers) 1 small tabletop scale Extra syringes already prepped with needles [...]

Monday: Today we set the stage for the whole week! Paul and Paige lead the way to set up our turtle traps. They both have a keen eye for identifying the best location and selecting the best bait to catch our shelly friends! After all the traps are set up we head back to the [...]

SIDEQUEST! All WEL Fellows report to DuPage county for a all effort sampling week! This week was interesting for Jaime and I! Unlike normal where we spend the entirety of our week at sites around cook county, we were sent out to DuPage to assist in their summer sampling! Jaime and I spent half of [...]

  This year our team has evolved into quite the crazy cook county chelonian crew! Katelyn Deppe, a second year veterinary student, is back again except this time she’s lost her scales and grew a shell as she begins a new project centered on painted turtles. Her can-do attitude and outgoing personality keeps our communication on [...]