Brush Hogs...the bane of the Wood Turtle

Posted by Matt from CT on August 08, 2005 at 14:07:22 from (66.181.93.142):

Still trying to catchup with the posts after being on vacation for a week...

Anyway, listening to the radio this morning on the way into work there was a nature segment.

The scientist they were interviewing is investigating the decline in Wood Turtles. He said they were very puzzled, since that type of turtle isn't one that depends on a unique habitat or anything special like that.

So they hooked up a bunch of radio transmitters to them...and started tracking them.

Then all of a sudden they started to lose a bunch...and he'd go and see a freshly mowed field.

So they talked with the landowners where the turtles where being tracked, and before mowing they'd go in, located the turtles by radio, and move them.

His theory on a big part of the decline, aside from the normal pollution & development stuff, is the rotary mowers move enough air to "suck" the turtles up. The old sickle bar mowers where high enough off the ground to harmlessly pass over the turtles :)

At any rate, in the area he was studying the fields weren't being used for active agriculture anymore for the most part -- mostly meadows along the Connecticut River people kept mowed for aethsetic reasons...so the landowners have changed their mowing cycle to clip the fields either in the spring or fall when the turtles aren't in them.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Brush Hogs...the bane of the Wood Turtle Harley 14:33:20 08/08/05 (0)

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