{"id":3255,"date":"2018-07-02T11:07:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T16:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/?p=3255"},"modified":"2018-07-02T11:27:43","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T16:27:43","slug":"week-2-tour-de-turtles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/week-2-tour-de-turtles\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 2: Tour de Turtles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our second week turned out to be a whirlwind tour through several Illinois counties and turtle species! We were lucky enough to sample ornate box turtles and Blanding\u2019s turtles within a few days! We missed our large crew of fellow veterinary students that we sampled eastern box turtles with last week but got to reconnect with our Blanding\u2019s crew lab mates Lauren and Kirsten up in Lake County!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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What is an ornate box turtle?<\/h2><\/div>
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Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)<\/strong>
\n\u201cTerrapene\u201d meaning turtle, \u201cOrnata\u201d meaning fancy<\/p>\n

Distinguishing feature:<\/strong> yellow lines radiating from center of each scute
\nRange:<\/strong> United States and Mexico
\nHabitat:<\/strong> sand prairies, open fields in former prairies, rolling grasslands
\nDiet:<\/strong> mainly insects, snails, earthworms, tadpoles
\nStatus:<\/strong> IUCN near-threatened, threatened in Illinois
\nThreats:<\/strong> conversion of habitat to agricultural lands, urban expansion (roadkill)<\/p>\n

Read more:
\nhttp:\/\/wwx.inhs.illinois.edu\/collections\/herps\/data\/ilspecies\/te_ornata\/
\n<\/a>http:\/\/www.arkive.org\/ornate-box-turtle\/terrapene-ornata\/image-G27603.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The week began with some much needed catch up on data entry from last week. With 79 turtles sampled in our first week, there was a lot of datasheets to sort through and add to our master database. But with that taken care of, we packed and were off for more turtles! Ornate box turtles were the first stop on our tour. The samples we collected from them were the finishing touches on an innate immunity study being conducted by Dr. Laura Adamovicz. Innate immunity is a first-line defence mechanism including skin barriers, cytokines to activate immune cells, and the immune cells like neutrophils that perform the broad function of battling any foreign bacteria the animal encounters. Dr. Adamovicz is looking at the strength of the innate immune response between the different species we study as a lab. Collecting these samples came with an interesting twist for us however as we had no turtle dogs to search for us! Using just our keen eyes we were able to spot 20 ornate box turtles in one day of hiking along with two hognose snakes, a six lined race runner lizard, and plenty of interesting bugs! We learned that hognose snakes have an interesting defense mechanism of playing dead when provoked by a predator. Urging us along was a competition between us to spot the most turtles with a cold beer as first place prize. Marta, with 5 years of experience searching for box turtles, was able to come out on top!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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What is a Blanding\u2019s turtle?<\/h2><\/div>
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Blanding\u2019s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)<\/strong>
\n\u201cEmydo\u201d meaning freshwater tortoise, \u201ceidos\u201d meaning resemblance, \u201cblandingii\u201d in honor of Dr. William Blanding<\/p>\n

Distinguishing feature:<\/strong> bright yellow chin and throat
\nRange:<\/strong> United States and Canada
\nHabitat:<\/strong> marshes, prairie wetlands, shallow portions of lakes
\nDiet:<\/strong> snails, insects, crayfish, vertebrates
\nStatus:<\/strong> IUCN endangered, threatened in Illinois
\nThreats:<\/strong> habitat destruction<\/p>\n

Read more:
\nhttp:\/\/wwx.inhs.illinois.edu\/collections\/herps\/data\/ilspecies\/em_blandin\/<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.arkive.org\/blandings-turtle\/emydoidea-blandingii\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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After our ornate adventures, we headed over to Northern Illinois to be part of an initial health sampling of their Blanding\u2019s turtles! Using our Blanding\u2019s knowledge from last summer, Marta and I, with the skilled telemetry tracking of the biologists, were able to sample 15 Blanding\u2019s turtles in 2 days including blood values and swabbing the mouth and cloaca for pathogens. This pathogen data will help inform the biologists of disease prevalence in various areas around the county and give them a more complete picture of the health status of their turtles. For future efforts in conserving this endangered species, they will be able to have a better idea of how to help the populations they study based on the turtle health and the health of the environment in which they live. We got to meet their biggest Blanding’s, the largest we had ever seen, named “Helmet”! It felt good being back in waders again and storming through reeds to find our smiling turtle friends!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Marta<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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