My derpy roadtrip buddy
With no turtles to track or trap this week, the team and I were able to catch up on some things in the office. I finally stained all of the blood smears that I have made over the past month, and with 120+ slides this was quite a task. On Tuesday I received a beautiful package from Kelcie back in Illinois that was filled with lab supplies to hold me over until the end of summer. These supplies were super helpful, but my favorite part of the package was a brand-new Wildlife Epi Lab hat! I feel #official now.
On Wednesday, Range Control called us to say they had moved two box turtles safely off the road. With only carapace photos and a general location to guide us, Nicole and I went out to see if we could find them. We didn’t end up finding those turtles, but we did find & put transmitters on TWO other new turtles!
Tracking turtles with telemetry
Thursday was a real adventure as I drove to Tufts University to pick up two of our box turtles that were receiving treatment at their Wildlife Clinic. I was able to speak with the amazing Dr. Murray about the care they received, and she gave me a quick tour of their impressive facilities. Once we made it back to base, we placed transmitters on both turtles and released them back where they were originally found.
On Friday, Nicole gave me a quick lesson on telemetry and put my turtle tracking to the test. Despite my total lack of direction in the forest, I was actually able to find one of the turtles!! Thankfully Nicole took notes on how far we had traveled and was able to get us back to the truck… I think I might need more practice and a compass.
Total Turtle Count = 69
