Wollaston Public Library

4 days ago

Happy long weekend everyone! Hope you get out to see something as cool as this!TURTLE STACKING (Shareable Copy)

Hello from Kelly at Think Turtle Conservation Initiative

I was tagged on a post asking what was going on in the attached photos.

Although the turtles in these photos appear to be re-enacting ‘Yertle The Turtle’ turtles being turtles and quite smart are instead utilizing what is on hand ‘each other’ to see to their needs.

Thought I’d share my response for anyone that is not sure of what the turtles are doing.

The turtles are ‘basking.’ Turtles are ‘ectothermic,’ meaning they cannot maintain a constant body temperature and therefore rely on outside sources to regulate their body temperature. Their body temperatures changes with the environment around them. If the environment is cold, the turtle must move to a warmer place.

To aid in regulating their body temperature you will see turtles basking on logs in the sun and sometimes unfortunately on the warm pavement/asphalt of the roads.

It is believed that turtles will bask together to gather more heat and pile on top of one another in an attempt to change angles and maximize exposure and/or get closer to the heat source. Turtles can be seen with their legs stretched out again to maximize heat absorption.

With only being able to see a portion of the body of water it is possible there are few if any natural or introduced basking sites being another reason the turtles have taken to stacking like this.

We shared a post last year on Facebook about basking and habitat enrichment. If you missed that post checkout the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative WordPress Blog it has been re-posted there. Habitat Enrichment (or Basking Sites Go A Long Way)
thinkturtleconservationinitiative.wordpress.com/2020/07/24/habitat-enrichment-or-basking-sites-go…

Note: The turtles in the photos are eastern river cooters. This is a subspecies within the species known as the river cooter. There are native to the eastern United States, with a smaller population in the mid west found in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, and ponds.

Would most definitely give these turtles a ’10’ for this basking endeavor!

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It would be greatly appreciated if you could share this post with family, friends and associates and ask them to do the same.

If driving please be mindful of the turtles and other wildlife we share the roads with this time of the year. Should you find an injured turtle please contact Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) being Ontario’s turtle hospital at 705-741-5000. There are located in Peterborough and admit injured turtles from all across Ontario. Should you not be able to drive an injured turtle you found to the OTCC they will arranged a ride through their network of Turtle Taxi volunteers. Turtle Taxi volunteers are needed during turtle season for the occasional transport of injured turtles in need of medical attention. If you are interested in volunteering for the Turtle Taxi please phone 705-741-5000 or e-mail volunteer@ontarioturtle.ca. Thank you.

Note: During the COVID-19 pandemic the treatment of injured turtles is deemed essential and as such the turtle hospital at OTCC is permitted to be open and is fully operational with infection control measures in place to avoid human to human contact.

Thank you for reading this post. It would be greatly appreciated if you would please share this information with family, friends and associates and ask them to do the same.

Kindest Regards,
Kelly Wallace
Think Turtle Conservation Initiative
Cell/Text: 647-606-9537
E-mail: thinkturtle@yahoo.com
Facebook: thinkturtleci
Username: Wallace Kathleen Kelly
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