An update of the status of the Eastern box turtles in the Earthshine Nature Programs Turtle Tracks Eastern box turtle conservation, public awareness and education program happening at Earthshine Discovery Center in Lake Toxaway,  North Carolina, USA.

12/08/13 Field Update: Today I located both Catherine and Jimmy Irwin. They were both settled into their overwintering sites for their long winters nap.  Jimmy is in almost the exact same location that he over-wintered in last year and Catherine is only about 30 feet northwest of the site she used for the last several years.

The Trails turtles, Shelly Echo and Paula Journeys,  are also deep in their winter sleep waiting for spring.

Note: While walking back to my car today I found the scat (poop) of an unusually large animal–probably a horse–so if you are missing a horse, please contact me and I will let you know where I found it. Like any good naturalist I analyzed the scat so if you are interested in what I found just take a look at it in the video below–especially if you are missing a horse. It was just a bit large to be a bear so the other possibility is a Sasquatch 😉

View the video from today’s field excursion below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_2bd-UvEVg&w=640&h=360

If the video will not play or open then follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_2bd-UvEVg to view the video on Youtube

This will probably be the last locate day for 2013 however,  I will do a mid-winter video report on all of the reptiles and then start anew in the spring with the continued tracking of these beautiful creatures.

Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks are two reptile conservation, research and education projects occurring near Earthshine Discovery Center and Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and a lot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers, glimpse into the lives of several wild reptiles living in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on our projects and programs please take a look at our website: http://www.earthshinenature.com

It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation of our misunderstood wildlife through exciting hands-on education, outreach programs, conservation based field research programs, and online with our nature documentary video series.

We are not paid nor do we collect a salary to operate ENP or to conduct our wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated program designed to educate you about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals and hopefully, to impart to you, their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth and healthy humans.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without all of you, our wildlife conservation and education mission would just not be possible – your support makes this important work happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting http://www.earthshinenature.com/donate

Music by John Mason and the Steep Canyon Rangers used with written permission.

Video and editing by Steve O’Neil