reptiles

TURTLE TRACKS expedition from 10-14-2012

Posted on by Stevo

This is the most recent Turtle Tracking expedition of 2012. In the below video we find that Catherine is headed toward her over-wintering site and Jimmy Irwin is already there! This is probably the last time we will see them until April 2013.

Thank you to everyone who assisted me in locating the turtles today!

Turtle Tracks is an Eastern Box Turtle conservation and research project occurring at Earthshine Mountain Lodge in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology, glimpse into the life of a wild box turtle in its natural environment.

Music By: The Steep Canyon Rangers http://www.steepcanyon.com

Special Thanks to: Catherine and Jimmy Irwin the Eastern Box Turtles, Earthshine Mountain Lodge and staff, John Rucker and his amazing turtledogs, Charlie Green of Turtle Talks in Asheville, NC., Dr. Coleman DVM, Catherine O’Neil, Marian O’Neil, Lori Williams, Gabrielle Graeter of the NCWRC, Ann Somers , The Steep Canyon Rangers http://www.steepcanyon.com, John Mason http://www.blueridgebreezes.com and the late Steve Irwin “The Crocodile Hunter” for your passion and dedication for preserving the wildlife and wild places of the planet. May your dreams and passion live on in everyone you inspired and may you rest in peace.

For more information on Earthshine Nature and the Turtle tracks Eastern Box Turtle conservation project check out: http://www.earthshinenature.com

Snake Tracks Field Update for 10-28-12

Posted on by Stevo

Zoe and Utsanati were not visible on the surface today. They have have moved into their over-wintering dens. They are using the exact same sites that they used last year. It is obvious to me that both snakes know exactly where they are and exactly where they are going. This is important to know because moving a snake to a new area could adversely it’s ability to survive. Even if you move a snake with the goal of trying to help get it out of harms way, you could actually be harming the snake unintentionally. Other studies have shown that when moved, some animals can adapt but others such as the Timber rattlesnake, will search endlessly for familiar places. Relocated animals use vast am mounts of energy and do not feed or mate as often as if they were in their native habitat. They spend most of their time searching for familiar sheltering, feeding and denning sites and if they cannot find their preferred over wintering site they may not survive the winter. If you have to move a snake please do not move it very far–a few hundred yards at the most.

Take a look at the video footage from today below:

If that link does not work you can watch the video through this link

It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation through exciting hands-on education and out-reach programs. I am not paid to operate ENP or to conduct our wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated project designed to educate you about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals and to hopefully, impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and value to a healthy earth and healthy humans.

If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate using this link. Receipts available upon request. You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies. If you are interested in donating any of these items please contact us for more information on our current needs.

THANK YOU to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you this important work would not happen.

Click HERE to learn how you and your family, school, scout, corporate or camp group, can visit Earthshine Mountain Lodge and have a wonderful educational retreat!

Video and editing by Steve O’Neil

Music by the Steep Canyon Rangers used with permission. http://www.steepcanyon.com

New nature photos from ENP!

Posted on by Stevo

Check out several new photos from adventures with Earthshine Nature Programs from over the last few weeks–enjoy!

Snake Tracks Field Update for 10-11-12 from Earthshine Nature Programs

Posted on by Stevo

Zoe and Utsanati have left the power line access way and moved into the forest closer to their over-wintering sites. We found Zoe underground in her interim den but we were unable to visually locate her.  This is a site that she used last year at this time just before she entered her primary den which is located only ~150 from the interim den. She again used this site this past spring as a a resting place just after she came out of hibernation. It is obvious that she knows exactly where she is and exactly where she is going.

We found Utsanati on the surface in a resting coil only a few hundred feet uphill from his den site. It will be very interesting to see if both snakes return to their last winter’s den sites.

Utsanati. Photo by Fred Bahnson

Watch the video from today’s expedition below.

If the video does not show then you can watch the video on my Youtube channel.

I am not paid to conduct this research–this is a volunteer project that I am undertaking to learn all that I can about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals to further educate you about their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy forest ecosystem.

If you would like to support the Snake Tracks Timber Rattlesnake wildlife conservation, research, and education project and/or Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate using this link. Receipts available upon request. You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies. If you are interested in donating any of these items please contact us for more information on our current needs. THANK YOU to all of you who have donated to ENP!! Without you this important work would not happen.

Baby ratsnakes hatch at the Earthshine Nature Center!

Posted on by Stevo

A few months ago I found several ratsnake eggs in the “ratsnake skyway” habitat at the Nature Center. I am unsure which snake laid them but it had to be Lori (Yellow ratsnake) or Xena (Albino ratsnake). The father was either Scar (Black ratsnake) or Heyward (Grey ratsnake). I placed the eggs in a makeshift incubator and hoped for the best and about a week ago they started hatching! Take a look at the photos and video below for great vision of all the action!

In the first photo the eggs have just starting to hatch.  The small cuts on the eggs are from the baby snakes using their egg tooth’s to cut the shell open from the inside.  The egg on the lower left has a tiny snake nose poking out to sniff the big world!

Do I really want to come out of the safety of this warm egg?

Just hatched!

Hello world!  I am a ratsnake and I am here to eat rats!

 One of the babies was born with a spinal defect and did not survive so it was fed to King the Eastern Kingsnake.  Watch the short video below to watch the feeding and see the baby snakes!

Find us online at Earthshine Nature Programs.

Snake Tracks Field Update for 10-04-12

Posted on by Stevo

Today I found both rattlesnakes deep in the forest far from areas of Human habitation or visitation. They were only ~40 feet apart within the power line access way.  Zoe was sunning in the open under some brush and Utsanati was coiled at the base of a Mountain Laurel shrub beside the “trail.”  It is interesting to note that while tracking Zoe I had unknowingly walked within 2 feet of Utsanati and he never once moved or rattled!

Here is a photo of Utsanati.

Both snakes never rattled or acted aggressive upon my approach–they just remained coiled in resting coils despite the fact that I was only a few feet away as I collected my data.

Zoe as I found her.

After locating both rattlesnakes I made my way back up the steep mountainside and almost stepped on this little cute garter snake.

He posed for several photos and video–he was a bit more wary of me than the rattlesnakes who I believe have gotten used to me visiting them occasionally.

Take a look at the video footage from today below:

If the video does not show then you can watch the video on my Youtube channel. 

I am not paid to do this research–this is a volunteer project that I am undertaking to learn all that I can about these greatly misunderstood and amazing animals to further educate you about their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy forest ecosystem.

If you would like to support the Snake Tracks Timber Rattlesnake wildlife conservation, research, and education project and/or Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate using this link. Receipts available upon request. You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies. If you are interested in donating any of these items please contact us for more information on our current needs. THANK YOU to all of you who have donated to ENP!! Without you this important work would not happen.

Hatchling and Head Start Box Turtle Release!

Posted on by Stevo

I released three young box turtles today. Watch the video at the end of this post for all the details. The first two releases were hatchlings that I hatched from rescued eggs in the nature center–scroll down to read my previous blog posting and photos of these tiny turtles hatching and read more about their story.  Check out this photo of one of the hatchlings just before I released him–you can still see his tiny little egg tooth–the white thing on the end of his nose–that he used to slice his way out of the egg!  It will drop off soon.

In the second part of the video I release Betty the head start box turtle. Below is a photo of Betty just after her release.

 

Betty the turtle was rescued a couple of years ago by Betty the human who is a friend of Meredith’s. Betty the human was walking along a remote dirt road in the forest when she found a nest of box turtle eggs that had been overcome by ants. The ants had eaten eaten all but one of the hatching baby turtles–Betty the turtle. Betty the human took the little survivor to Turtle Mom Meredith who took care of her for a time before delivering her to me so that I could care for her until she was older and better able to defend herself from predators like the ants. Betty stayed with me for several years in the nature center and today I have released her into the wild only a few feet from her hatching location. Now that she has grown she will not be eaten by ants–she will eat them!

Good luck Betty!

Thank you Betty and Meredith for saving this little turtle’s life.

Watch the video below of the release of two of the three young turtles. If the video does not show on your computer then just follow this link to my Youtube Channel.

Snake Tracks Field Update for 9-21-12

Posted on by Stevo

Today I found both rattlesnakes deep in the forest far from areas of Human habitation or visitation.  They were only a few hundred feet apart within the power line access way.  Zoe was sunning in the open and Utsanati was moving from the access way into the forest.

Here’s a photo of Zoe basking in the warm last day of summer sun.

Both snakes never rattled or acted aggressive upon my approach–they just slowly moved a few feet away from me and hid when I started collecting my data.  That’s a photo of Utsanati below–can you find him?

Take a look at the video from today below:

If that link does not work you can watch the video on Youtube HERE: http://youtu.be/_f6C4vQXGFA

I am not paid to do this research–this is a volunteer project that I am undertaking to learn all that I can about these amazing animals to further educate you about their beauty, uniqueness and value to a healthy forest ecosystem. If you would like to support the Snake Tracks Timber Rattlesnake wildlife conservation, research, and education project and/or Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate using this link. Receipts available upon request. You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies. If you are interested in donating any of these items please contact us for more information on our current needs. THANK YOU to all of you who have donated to ENP!! Without you this important work would not happen.

Baby Box Turtles Hatch at Earthshine!!

Posted on by Stevo

WOO HOO!! Two days ago I checked the incubator to find that the three Eastern box turtle eggs I have been incubating for the last month or so were hatching!!   Take a look at the photos below of the little turtles hatching!

I received these little guys as eggs from a friend of mine who found them on a family member’s property.  The property was being developed and unfortunately the eggs were dug up during the excavation.  Fortunately for them the landowners cared about the welfare of wildlife so they quickly got the eggs to me so that I could try to incubate them and give them a chance at life.  I placed them in an incubator with some ratsnake eggs that I am incubating and a few weeks later here they are!

While these little guys are really cute they are also really fragile and need special care.  As you can see from the photos they are only the size of a quarter (that is a flash drive with the turtle below for size comparison).

Since they are so small they are eaten by many different forest animals such as Raccoons, Wild turkeys and other birds, Opossums, foxes, Chipmunks, snakes, and even your pet cats and dogs!  Their chances of surviving to adulthood are very low if released in the same place so to help out with the odds I plan to release one of them near to where it originated and let it take its chances in the wild.   I will release the second one in the protected forests at Earthshine (which is not very far from their home forest) and the third one I will raise in the box turtle head start enclosure in the nature center.

In a few years, when the head start turtle is old enough to protect itself, I will release it near its place of origin.  Maybe I will be able to attach a tracking device to it’s shell and see how it does in the wild after being raised in captivity.  Only time will tell.