When I was about six years old, I found a snapping turtle walking across my grandmother’s yard and eagerly ran inside to tell her. In a panic, she ordered me to stay inside until it was gone, warning me that if a snapping turtle bites you, it won’t let go until it hears thunder. IContinue reading “Snapping Turtles Only Let Go When they Hear Thunder? Possible Origins of the Myth”
Tag Archives: turtle
Identification, Triage, and Management of Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome
This presentation, given to attendees at the Wildlife Rehabilitators of North Carolina Symposium in 2024, is available for wildlife, rehabilitators and others in the field who may be interested in learning our experiences with Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome and our protocols in treating and managing it.
Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome
This photo shows Glen, a patient we treated for turtle facial inflammation syndrome, or BTFIS. It didn’t have a name until we gave it one, but this disease has been recorded since the 1970s and clearly linked to pesticide exposure since the 1990s. It involves inflammation of the eyes, ears, and nasal passages, often eventuallyContinue reading “Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome”
How to Examine a Box Turtle
You don’t have to be a vet or wildlife rehabilitator to check an animal for signs of injury! We don’t normally ask the public to examine animals, but the increase in of eye and ear infections have us concerned, and they need your help! If you find a wild box turtle, please do NOT bringContinue reading “How to Examine a Box Turtle”
Speak Up Against Turtle Poaching!
A typical Eastern box turtle will have only two surviving young in its fifty-year-long life. In many parts of their range, their numbers have fallen by 30-60% in recent decades. If their populations continue declining at this rate, they will become extinct quickly. Box turtles aren’t our only native turtle facing possible extinction. Bog turtlesContinue reading “Speak Up Against Turtle Poaching!”
Snapping Turtles Aren’t Dangerous
Lots of people are terrified of snapping turtles. We get calls throughout the summer from people who want snapping turtles relocated, or even killed, because they’re afraid that these peaceful dinosaurs will eat their kids or pets. But a snapping turtle in your yard isn’t anything to worry about! Snapping turtles don’t eat kids orContinue reading “Snapping Turtles Aren’t Dangerous”
All About Cooters
After we admitted Opal, our second river cooter patient, we saw a lot of incredibly immature, suggestive, and even offensive comments. We loved all of them. Yes, there really are turtles called cooters. That’s their actual name. Tennessee has tons of cooters. Specifically, we’re home to the subspecies known as the Eastern river cooter. It’sContinue reading “All About Cooters”
Found an “Orphan” Turtle?
Please don’t “rescue” baby turtles of any kind unless they’re noticeably injured! There is no such thing as an orphan turtle. Unlike mammals, birds, and a couple of reptiles, turtles do not care for their young at all. A mother turtle lays her eggs and never sees them again. Well-meaning people who “rescue” turtles fromContinue reading “Found an “Orphan” Turtle?”
Don’t Move Reptile Eggs
This beautiful Eastern box turtle was spotted laying eggs in Fairfax, Virginia. Fortunately for her, the photographer left her and her eggs alone. Many other reptile moms aren’t so lucky: often, a person will find reptile eggs and will move them either indoors or to a different outdoor spot. This is often fatal for theContinue reading “Don’t Move Reptile Eggs”
Trees Don’t Litter
If you’d ever seen how quickly our raccoon patients can devour twenty pounds of acorns or forage through six inches of fallen leaves for bugs, you’d understand exactly why there’s no need to “clean up” the gifts trees leave us in autumn! Many native animals in our area cannot survive winter without the bounty ofContinue reading “Trees Don’t Litter”
For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue 