# Threatened turtle research im working on



## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

I have been helping a local grad student with an on going research project that started in 03 on the blandings turtle here in upstate NY. This turtle is very threatened and lives only in areas that have large amounts of vernal pools. 
































































Habitat


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## slygecko (Feb 10, 2007)

Awesome! Blanding's is a great turtle. I'm sending a PM with some questions about the project...

Cheers,
Nick


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Good stuff, and best of luck.


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## doncoyote (Apr 20, 2005)

Very cool - keep posting pix.

A wacky suggestion: I've always had a "problem" (problem in quotes, because I find it hard to get upset about) with my shorthairs pointing turtles. In fact the only Blanding's I've ever seen - they're very rare in NH, too - was because of a point thrown by my old male's sire. Maybe bringing along a staunch pointer would result in more turtle finds? Before everyone savages me about risking the turtle - folks who band w00dc0ck use pointers to locate nestlings without big ill effects...

I had to spell w__dc_ck with zeros to get around the censor software .


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

That’s funny. My elkhound once sniffed out a box turtle for me. He was really turned on by the sent of the turtle from a ways away. 

I’ve always thought It would be fun to train this dog in tracking. Unfortunately, from what I’ve heard, the tracking community is not very friendly, especially to people who don’t have “traditional” tracking dogs. You would think that a hunting hound that was originally bred to track/drive moose would be welcomed. :? 

Tsunami searching for something?


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

doncoyote said:


> Very cool - keep posting pix.
> 
> A wacky suggestion: I've always had a "problem" (problem in quotes, because I find it hard to get upset about) with my shorthairs pointing turtles. In fact the only Blanding's I've ever seen - they're very rare in NH, too - was because of a point thrown by my old male's sire. Maybe bringing along a staunch pointer would result in more turtle finds? Before everyone savages me about risking the turtle - folks who band w00dc0ck use pointers to locate nestlings without big ill effects...
> 
> Hee, hee, hee - I had to spell w__dc_ck with zeros to get around the censor software :lol: .


Hey, this is no joke. Dogs are already being used to census wildlife using their noses and they are very good at it. I know a guy who uses scat sniffing dogs to census multiple predator species in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Not only can the dogs smell the turds, but they can indicate which species the turd came from. And DNA analysis shows they are very accurate. They can even tell the difference between red fox and kit fox which is pretty impressive since their crap smells and tastes the same to me. If I recall correctly, the dogs used in the previous study were trained to detect grizzly bear, black bear, wolf, and mountain lion. They don't know how many species a dog can be trained on without becoming confused but training them to find turtles should be a piece of cake. And no, there would be no risk to the turtles.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> since their crap smells and tastes the same to me.


I have a feeling there's a very interesting story behind that comment :lol:


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## bbrock (May 20, 2004)

defaced said:


> > since their crap smells and tastes the same to me.
> 
> 
> I have a feeling there's a very interesting story behind that comment :lol:


It tastes like chicken.


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## tortoiseguy65 (Apr 19, 2007)

I applaud your work with the blandings. They are awesome turtles and are threatened here in Illinois as well. I have yet to see one in the wild here. The comments on possibly using a dog to track turtles brings to mind something I read quite a few years ago about a couple that used their Lab to locate 3 toed box turtles, I believe in Missouri. The Lab was trained to find and retrieve the turtles, which were then marked and released. Does anyone else remember this?

Take care,
Jeff Port


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

You have a GSP too!!!! 



















Unfortunately, my dog is a poo eater - she can sniff it and find it anywhere. 

She is also a good tracker. She picked up a very bad habit for a bird dog and learned how to self hunt. I have lost track of the total # of animals she has found vs found and killed, but she has gotten a handfull of groundhogs, a couple possom, chipmunks and a few others.

The funniest thing is when we go to my mom's house and the cat brings my dog back prey to play with. This is how she learned the ordor of snakes and how to hunt them. There is nothing funnier seeing a cat carrying a snake in it's mouth - I don't know how the cats do it, but they have never hurt a snake. 

She also loves the spring time and hunts for frogs and toads in our flower beds. I never let her get any of them, but she finds them easily. Amazing how she can pick up their scents too.
I can really see the advantage of a well trained dog would be to conservation efforts. 



doncoyote said:


> Very cool - keep posting pix.
> 
> A wacky suggestion: I've always had a "problem" (problem in quotes, because I find it hard to get upset about) with my shorthairs pointing turtles. In fact the only Blanding's I've ever seen - they're very rare in NH, too - was because of a point thrown by my old male's sire. Maybe bringing along a staunch pointer would result in more turtle finds? Before everyone savages me about risking the turtle - folks who band w00dc0ck use pointers to locate nestlings without big ill effects...
> 
> I had to spell w__dc_ck with zeros to get around the censor software .


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Noone notice that Greg's grad student is .....ah....female? :-0

We thought he was just volunteering for the good of the turtles... 

Whatever your motivation I'm sure the turtle [and the Grad Girl] will thank you.

S


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## melissa68 (Feb 16, 2004)

Ya, I noticed that too. Do you think he still would have posted all the pictures and helped out if she was a he?

Melis


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

Hey, I commented on it right away. Somehow there are two of these threads http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27751&highlight=turtle+research


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

hahah how do u guys know me so well?


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

Here are a few new pics of the turtles taken with an under water camera and me with a turtle I tracked with the telemetry equipment. These turtles are going to be tracked all the way into the breeding season. During the period the turtles should be laying the females will be tracked every night and monitored until they dig a nest and deposit there eggs. Im lookjing forward to siting out at night and waiting for the females to make it on to land and dig nests. There are lots of hoop and box traps set right now so that we can catch and put transmitters on more turtles. I will post pictures of the traps soon.


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