Big Threat To A Little Turtle- Mysterious Disease Threatens Bog Turtle Intelligencer Journal Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania. US) Sep 08, 2009 09:14 EST By AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails
The diminutive bog turtle, a creature discovered for the world in Lancaster County in the 18th century, is facing yet another threat to its long precarious existence. Already on the federal threatened list and endangered in Pennsylvania, the secretive bog turtles are now turning up dead, possibly victims of a new, mysterious disease. With another suddenly occurring and heretofore unknown disease on the road to possibly wiping out most of Pennsylvania's bat population within several years, fans of the bog turtle are fearful at what might be creeping through isolated turtle colonies in the eastern United States. In recent months, dead and diseased bog turtles have shown up in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. In some cases, there has been no apparent cause of death. Bog turtles fall prey to such predators as raccoons, mice, skunks, foxes and birds but a mauling is usually obvious. One unsubstantiated report says seven or eight empty shells were found near each other last year at a bog turtle site in Lebanon County. Other living turtles have been found with a film on their bodies. Missing claws and skin lesions and sloughing skin also have been found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was sufficiently alarmed to issue a bog turtle disease alert in August. Those who study and watch over known bog turtle populations are being asked to send dead bog turtles to the National Wildlife Health Center for analysis. "It could be devastating to bog turtles," says George Gress, The Nature Conservancy's project manager of the 100-acre Acopian Preserve in northern Lancaster County. "It's something that comes on the heels of the white-nose syndrome with the bat population so it has people nervous." Writes Tim Abbott, a former TNC overseer of bog turtle conservation, about sites he oversaw in Massachusetts, Connecticut and eastern New York: "This is extremely troubling news...Past research indicates that the loss of just one breeding adult a year at these sites would be enough to tip the balance toward extirpation." Bog turtles have a very low reproduction rate. So far, Gress reports, no dead or diseased bog turtles have been found in a bog turtle preserve in West Cocalico Township. The Acopian Preserve, purchased by the nonprofit conservation group in 1989 with financial help from Easton businessman Sarkis Acopian, used to contain the largest bog turtle population in Pennsylvania. It once had about 100 bog turtles, but now estimates are closer to 60. Some of the decline is believed to be from predation. And some, despite monitoring by the group and nearby residents, by poachers. Bog turtles, despite a ban on possessing or taking them from the wild, remain a black market mainstay. Only reaching a maximum size of 4 inches, bog turtles are "cute" and highly desirable by unscrupulous hobbyists. The Acopian Preserve remains a crucial link in bog turtle research because its colony has been studied longer than any other in the United States. Turtles there have been marked and studied for almost 40 years and there are two turtles still living there that are at least 49 years old. "They are the oldest known bog turtles in the wild in their range," notes Gress. In the near future, bog turtles at the preserve and two others TNC manages in Cumberland and Monroe counties, will have tiny, electronic tags injected into their body cavities. About the size of a grain of rice, the tags would enable law enforcement to identify the turtles' source if, for example, they are confiscated in an illegal trade sting. TNC is also preparing to install surveillance cameras at bog turtle sites, including at the Acopian Preserve, Gress said. The bog turtle was discovered by the Rev. Gotthilf Hunrich Ernst Muhlenberg, a Colonial-era self-taught botanist who was responsible for the names of about 150 species of plants. Muhlenberg was involved in a survey of plants in Lancaster County when he inadvertently came across a tiny turtle. The turtle was named in 1801 "Clemmys muhlenbergii" or Muhlenberg's tortoise. In 1956, when the custom of using common names to commemorate individuals fell out of favor, the turtle was renamed bog turtle. Bog turtles, actually, don't live so much in wetlands as in streamside meadows filled with sedge grasses. They spend much of their lives basking in the sun. Cattle grazing in Lancaster County and elsewhere have actually been beneficial to bog turtles as they keep such meadows from evolving into forests. Their shells are usually black or mahogany. Their most telltale characteristic is a prominent yellow or orange splotch on each side of the head behind the eye. The spotted turtle looks similar and shares bog turtle habitat but the spotted has yellow or light spots on the upper shell. Most of us will never see one of these divine creatures. But keep your fingers crossed they remain out there, part of the web of life that keeps us whole. Allen Salzberg THE 2010 TURTLE CALENDAR IS HERE GOT TO WWW.HERPARTS.COM TO ORDER >From - HerpDigest.org: The Only Free Weekly E-Zine That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation and Science www.HerpDigest.org HerpArts.com Gifts for Herp Lovers: Reptile and Amphibian Jewelry, Art, Toys for Adults And Kids, Decorative Items for the House and So Much More www.HerpArts.com
