The Bog Turtle: An Endangered Virginia Species

The Bog Turtle: An Endangered Virginia Species 

The Bog turtle is an incredibly tiny species. They only get to about four inches long but they are fearless. J.D. Kleopfer, a herpetologist, refers to them as “little tanks on the landscape”. They wander all throughout their habitat despite their small size. They are found in Virginia’s southern Blue Ridge Plateau mostly in wet meadows. In my opinion, they look very similar to Box turtles, only less colorful. They have adorable big eyes which almost seem too big for their heads. These tiny turtles eat insects and prefer shallow wetlands. While the Bog turtles we have in Virginia are threatened, the Northern population of this species (in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, etc.) are listed federally as endangered. They are considered threatened within our state. 

These turtles don’t belong to one specific area. They are scattered about, making them hard to track. What we do know is that due to draining and other harmful environmental practices, this species could be seriously harmed. Because so much of this occurs on private land, which doesn’t make it private to these turtles, conservationists have to work alongside private land owners to combat this issue, which can become very tricky. Being hard to track may have a positive outcome. In the 80s and 90s, these turtles were poached for pet trade, significantly decreasing population sizes. Now, those who want to help keep these turtles safe, attempt to keep their location a secret. Being cute has a cost for many animals! There are several attempts being made to ensure these little turtles can thrive! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kip Redick Example of a Student's Choosing

  This is an example of a topic of the student's choosing.   During the summer of 2022, I attended an environmental encounters trip to Iceland with Dr. Kip Redick, Dr. Joe Balay, and 14 other students. It was a two week trip, but those short two weeks completely changed my life. I learned about more things than I thought was possible in 14 days, and I've never been more interested in learning before. It completely opened my eyes to a whole new perspective, on how the world should live, and what the environment should look like. Everyone was so kind, and they are the most environmental conservative countries.  While there, we did many different activities, including hiking on a glacier. It was so fun, but exhausting and kind of sad at the same time. It was obvious to see how much the glacier have had melted in the past years due to global warming, as there was a large glacial lake at the bottom with melted ice, and the glacier was all rock and sediment before w...
Read more

Kip Redick Student's Free Choice Example

  Here is an example which would be a free choice entry.    Since last semester, I have been on e-board for the Green Team at CNU. I am the sustainability and research chair and my role is to make campus more green and sustainability which is challenging because CNU tends to be stubborn and not want to change. Although I have been struggling to do my job and change things, I have gotten so much insight from the other Green Team members because we come from different customs and view points. We have bonded over our love for the environment and our need to change. We have our own rituals were we try to connect with nature through meditation, yoga, and reciting poems and sharing ideas. We have a big/little system called Oaks and Acorns in order for new members to know how the group works and become close to each other. Green Team is not dominated by one class, one religion, or one race. That is why I love this organization so much. We are all accepted and brought...
Read more

Kip Redick Example of an Outside Reading Post

 Recently I decided to give the renowned masterpiece by Jon Krakauer known as Into the Wild  another read. Needless to say I was just as heartbroken as the first time I read this novel/watched the 2007 film. I felt the need to discuss the work here simply because I feel it relates to a lot of discussions we have been having in class. I mean think about it, a young man sets out across the country to explore creation as it was intended to be experienced. As the story progresses, I remember being left with a sense of wonder, even thinking things along the lines of "I wonder would what happen if I just decided to do this one day?" I feel it's common knowledge how this story ends by now, with the main protagonist passing away alone in the wilderness, no one around for miles due to accidentally ingesting a poisonous plant. Although I have previously discussed how nature is God's most pure creation and should be treated as such, I feel I need to address a differ...
Read more