This is a spiny softshell turtle (A. spinifera) found in many waterways of Cook County, preferring slow-moving waters, but it is often seen in lakes with sandy banks and bottoms. It is called a softshell because of its distinct leathery, flexible carapace in place of the normally keratinized shell of other aquatic turtles, and the [...]
Since Jenna is away on vacation this week, you get a purely Sathvik post (for better or worse!). This week, we swapped field sites to one of the release sites for Lake County's Blanding's turtle headstart programs. Luckily, we caught two turtles that were part of the headstart program! To understand the importance of the [...]
I'm a Map, I'm a Map, I'm a Map!!! Map Turtles are a species unique to cook county aquatic turtle teams and we're excited that we've been sampling a ton this week! Map turtles are distinguishable by their yellow or cream-colored markings on their skin and spot behind their eyes. Their carapace also [...]
Week Overview: We survived our first week of the summer field season! The week was full of ups (catching turtles) and downs (falling in the marsh). We finished the week with a total of 14 Blanding’s turtles, 7 Painted turtles, and 5 Common Snapping Turtles. The turtles were captured using multiple methods: trap setting [...]
Lake County has finished our first week in the field... and I think we can call it a success! We caught and sampled 16 Blanding's turtles, 2 painted turtles, and a snapping turtle this week, along with a new species for me, a garter snake! Even though we set 38 total traps this week, the [...]
Recently in the field, we encountered numerous turtle shells left behind from previous mortality events. While these discoveries can initially feel discouraging, they also represent an important opportunity for wildlife disease surveillance. Even when soft tissues are long gone and all that remains is shell and bone, there is often still valuable information preserved that [...]
Hey All, We're supper excited to start this season off of aquatic turtles in cook county on Monday with snakes... But the rest of the week we'll start to develop new skills and dust off old ones at one of our amazing aquatic turtle sites! we're looking forward to the summer and our next update [...]
Hey All, We're supper excited to start this season off of aquatic turtles in cook county on Monday with snakes... But the rest of the week we'll start to develop new skills and dust off old ones at one of our amazing aquatic turtle sites! we're looking forward to the summer and our next update [...]
Shell We Begin? Meet Grace! Hello! My name is Grace, I just finished my second year of veterinary school at the U of I (halfway done!) and am very excited to be back in the field with the Kane County team for my second summer. As for a little bit about me: I grew up [...]
Lake County has three main species of interest: the endangered Blanding's turtle, the common snapping turtle, and the painted turtle. We work closely with Lake County Forest Preserves to monitor these populations and their health. Common field activities for us include trapping and sampling turtles, tracking nesting females via radiotelemetry, and doing our work at [...]
