Turtle Doc to Range Control- 1 PAX 1 VIC entering the training area.
My first week in Cape Cod was SO FUN! With the direction of amazing field technicians at Camp Edwards, Turtle Team Veteran, Kelcie, and I spent the week hiking through forests tracking and sampling Eastern Box Turtles. Using radiotelemetry, the techs (Nicole, Jeremy, & Chris) were able to navigate through the densely wooded forest and get us directly to each specific turtle. This was much more efficient than me & Kelcie calling out “here turtle!!” in an attempt to coax them out from their hiding spots…but amusing to the techs nonetheless. Our scrub pants, while fashionably tucked into our hiking socks & stylishly paired with brightly colored
WEL t-shirts, were not-as-loved by scrub oak & briar thorns during our daily trek through the woods.
On our last day we were driving back to the office and stumbled upon a new turtle crossing the road! We were able to take our samples and watch Nicole fit and place a radio transmitter onto his carapace so we could find him again. Since we were doing all of this on the side of the road, some soldiers stopped to watch us work, and we were excited to hear that they liked turtles almost as much as we do. Almost. 😊
After spending the week with me singing to turtles/
endlessly laughing/ eating delicious food, Kelcie hit the road back to Urbana, IL. I am so grateful for her making the trip out to the East Coast to help me get the lab set up, and I know the turtles of Illinois are in good hands! Although we might have lost a probe & a pair of sunglasses in the woods, we did score a lost can of Axe body spray, an empty Dunkin coffee cup, and lots of memories.
Total Turtle Count – 21
