Nature Center Notes: Dangers native turtles face

Turtles haven’t changed much over the past 100 million years or so, but the world around them surely has. With the proliferation of roadways, rapid habitat loss and the introduction of human-made materials such as plastics into the environment, many species (most notably our state’s coastal aquatic turtles) have found themselves on the endangered species list.

North Carolina is home to 21 distinct turtle species, four of which are endemic to the mountain region. This includes our state reptile, the eastern box turtle.

The eastern box turtle is particularly interesting because while it is a terrestrial — land-dwelling — species, it is in the semi-aquatic pond turtle family, the emydidae. It is also the only turtle to possess a shell that can close completely.

The top shell, or carapace, of the box turtle is domed and can vary widely in color and pattern from shades of red to a bright almost-neon yellow. The carapace of a turtle is directly attached to its body, providing solid protection for its attached spine. The bottom part of its shell, called the plastron, is hinged to allow the turtle to protect itself by drawing its body inwards. This turtle is the one most often rescued from roadways, where they may be crossing to a different side of their 1-mile home range or basking on the hot asphalt.

If you see a turtle in the road, pull over only if you can do so safely, carefully pick the turtle up with both hands around the middle, and move it gently in the direction it was already heading. Please don’t try to relocate it to a place you believe may be a safer home as it may spend the rest of its life trying to get back to its original territory. Be mindful of its sharp claws and bite, too!

The largest freshwater turtle in the state is the common snapping turtle. It ranges throughout the entire state, found in permanent bodies of water from still ponds to large flowing rivers. The snapping turtle can grow to weigh as much as 70 pounds and is well-known for its main defense mechanism, a powerful bite. 

The common snapping turtle is most apt to bite when at its most vulnerable — on land — but will often swim away from any perceived threat in water. The bite of a common snapping turtle is often over exaggerated and registers at 208 newtons, or about 45 pounds of force, or about half of a human’s bite force.

The WNC Nature Center's resident common snapping turtle, Hazel, was a victim of the roadways and had to go through a year of rehabilitation after her shell and jaw were crushed. Now she can only open her jaw about an inch, so she can not be released back into the wild and happily calls our turtle pond her new home.

There is also a highly invasive species running amuck in our state due to their popularity as a pet: the red eared slider. While these turtles are native to the country in areas surrounding the Mississippi River, they have spread to many different parts of the world by the pet trade. Sought after when they’re small colorful hatchlings, this reptile can grow up to a foot long and can live for 40 years. 

Red eared sliders are farmed by the millions in the United States and Asia to sell to shoppers who may not be informed on the lifetime needs and habitat requirements of these creatures. Unbeknownst to them, many owners release these invasive turtles into non-native environments to give them what they believe to be a more natural life, which is detrimental to the local populations as they compete for food and territory. The red eared slider poses an additional threat to our state since it can interbreed with native yellow bellied sliders, thus polluting the genetic population.

If you want to practice your turtle identification skills, stop by the Turtle Pond at the WNC Nature Center and see how many species you can identify.

Learn more at wildwnc.org.