The Living Landscape: The Western pond turtle
- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrain of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter." – Rachel Carson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – All along the lazy Lake County shorelines of creeks, ponds and lakes you may be able to sneak up on Western pond turtles to observe their slow-motion antics.
Since they favor locations with logs or boulders on which to laze, that is where to look first. As an example, while on a walk on the bucolic boardwalk at Clear Lake State Park I spied several Western pond turtles within a short amount of time.
Anderson Marsh State Historic Park's Cache Creek walk allows for a variety of critters to study, including Western pond turtles.
Besides watery places of residence, however, they require a terrestrial habitat to thrive. For instance, if the turtles' resident pond or marsh dries up seasonally or in a drought, they might end up living outside of their aquatic environment for two-thirds of a year. Many turtles build nests out of the water as well.
Herpetologists – those who study reptiles, or biologists and naturalists specializing in the Western pond turtle tell us that these critters once flourished in abundance in and amongst California's streams, ponds and lakes.
It was popular in the 1800s to hunt turtles, especially during the Gold Rush when turtles were pursued almost to extinction. Today, the turtles are still in peril due to climate and weather changes, along with disappearing wildlife habitat.
Another problem Western pond turtles face is the abundance of non-native species like the turtle called the Red-eared slider. The red-eared slider is native to the mid- and southern United States, and is often purchased as a pet, then released into the Western pond turtles' habitat, where it overtakes the native's food and nesting territory.
Western pond turtles have been studied extensively by Sonoma State University's biology professor Nick Geist since 2008, in collaboration with San Francisco and Oakland Zoos to rear and relocate turtles to their native habitat.
Working with grad students, special transmitters are attached to the backs of some turtles, and this gives them data for one ot two years on their progress.
The turtles are tracked via radio telemetry along with visual surveys in their native habitat at Lake County's Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve.
These special turtles are endemic, or unique to the geographical region of the United States' western coasts from Washington to Mexico. They once thrived in Canada, but have been locally extinct, or extirpated there since 2002.
The reptiles are listed as a species of concern here in California, by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
With the Western pond turtle's hard shell, which is dull brown to olive in coloration, the adults are quite often safe from predators.
But their soft eggs and diminutive young hatchlings are preyed upon by many mammals such as otter, osprey, raccoon, coyotes and of course, humans who contaminate or deplete the turtle's habitat. When all is right in the turtles' world, they can live 50 years or more in nature.
Western pond turtle fun-facts: To determine the sex of the Western pond turtle you have only to look at its throat- males wear a pastel yellow throat.
The diet of the Western pond turtle is wide in scope, including crawdads, bugs, frogs and fish. Being omnivorous, they might choose, instead, to dine on tule, algae or cattail roots.
Turtles have played their part in the Pomo Indians' past, through some of their mythology. According to anthropologist and linguist S.A. Barrett who studied American Indian peoples in the 1800s the Pomo Indians depicted turtle as the protagonist in many of their myths.
In a story called, "Coyote Steals the Morning Sack, Containing the Sun, Moon and Pleiades," turtle, along with black lizard and coyote are in search of light.
Coyote was adept at changing himself into many forms, so to trick the boys who were making use of the village sweathouse Coyote changed into an old man so as to gain the boys' sympathy to enable him access.
After much dancing – and with turtle as the guard of the doorway, Coyote was able to gain access to the bag which contained the morning light. When the People learned of the trick, they launched Fog and Dove after them.
While turtle continued guarding the doorway, the villagers shot at him with their swift arrows, and that is how turtle gained the markings on his shell.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park”, a local historical novella "People of the Water", and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” for nearly 20 years.