We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am
My photo this week is one I took last Tuesday when visiting biologists were doing a survey of the turtle population of Turtle Lake. Most of the turtles that live in some of our lakes are the native Western Painted Turtle, but there are a few others that are non-native and probably were store bought specimens. Now that the native species have been declared to be at risk due to habitat loss or other factors there is a need to determine how large or small the population is and what if any measures might be taken to conserve this reptile. I have a few photos of turtles on Texada, but this was a chance to photograph some being hand held and worked on by experts. Close up and out of the water they are much more interesting and certainly quite handsome. It would be a great shame if this animal were to be lost from our island through neglect. However, there are some things that are fairly easy to do that can do much to improve the survival chances of wild turtles and the biologists already have some ideas for habitat improvements on Texada.
JD.
A female Western Painted Turtle from Turtle Lake. She now has a couple of nicks in the edge of her shell so that she can be identified in the future.
