Hello, fellow turtle lovers! I (Kirsten) am doing a takeover this week because I was Sam-less last week! She went home to New Jersey for her sister’s graduation.

The highlight of this last week was the Blanding’s Turtle Recovery Program celebrating World Turtle Day by releasing 91 head-starts into the wild! This program was started in 2010 and has released hundreds of baby Blanding’s over the last nine years. Because of this program, we have seen profound population increases, and these babies tend to do quite well once released… very exciting news for this endangered species!

 

 

Turtle Technician Timmy and Kirsten releasing buckets of headstarts!

 

 

 

 

A few newspaper writers showed up to watch all of the excitement, and I had the opportunity to work up a turtle in front of them and talk to them about how much I love being a part of this amazing project. You can check out this link to the Chicago Tribune article!

If you have any interest in learning more about the Blanding’s Turtle Recovery Program or how you can help be a part of saving this species, click here to access the LCFPD website.