2024 Turtle nesting season – Ways You Can Help
Long Point Turtle nesting season is almost here! And We need your help
Beginning in late May each year, our female turtles will leave the safety of their marshes and ponds to nest along nearby roadsides, unknowingly putting themselves and their young at great risk.
This nesting behaviour is the reason road mortality is tied with habitat loss as the biggest threat to Canada’s freshwater turtle populations.
To help, wildlife conservation groups all over Ontario and beyond have introduced turtle egg incubation programs to find at-risk turtle nests, excavate the eggs, and carefully transport them to incubators. Then, when the eggs hatch after about two months, the hatchlings are released directly into the marsh their mothers came from.
With help from the herpetologist Scott Gillingwater and his Turtle Lab team at the London Watershed Conservation Centre, our Long Point Biosphere Wildlife Road Watch volunteers, and Eco-Kare International last year, almost 900 hatchlings were released on Long Point and Turkey Point marsh.
Fundraising for Long Point Incubation Centre
This year, for the first time ever, our Long Point turtle eggs can stay close to home. We are excited to announce a brand-new turtle egg incubation program in partnership with Long Point Eco Adventures, who have graciously provided space in their new building for four incubators where we can safely house up to 4,000 turtle eggs. But we need your help. We are about $16,000 short of our goal to get our turtle lab up and running, and the clock is ticking. Please consider donating if you are able.
Or Volunteer for Wildlife Road Watch
If you are not able to contribute financially but wish to help another way, please consider joining Wildlife Road Watch, our volunteer program where you will be trained this May to safely help turtles cross roads and to identify turtle nests for excavation along several key nesting hotspots. If you are interested, please consider subscribing at wildlifeonroads.com to receive an invitation, or reach out to Lauren at lnightingale@eco-kare.com for more information.
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