Other than our Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly conservation work, our primary focal species for research is currently the Wood Turtle, a rare and declining species across most of its range that is particularly hard to come by here in Central Maryland.
We are fortunate to have partnered with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources who has joined a working group of states, federal agencies and non-profits to assess the status of this incredible species which is a candidate for federal listing and protection. Here we were lucky to find an old male Wood Turtle in a Harford County creek where very few have been recorded in recent decades. We marked the individual, measured its weight and size, and took toe nail clippings so the genetics of this likely isolated and remnant population can be better understood and recorded.
This species is semi-aquatic and requires both clean flowing waterways as well as floodplain and upland habitats to forage, seek cover and lay eggs. They spend the winter brumating (similar to hibernating) underwater on the creek bottom or under logs, roots or bank cavities. With this unique life history and the movement that occurs with it, they have been hit particularly hard by road mortality, habitat fragmentation and degradation, nest predation and illegal poaching for the pet trade. This is the reason we keep our locations confidential and we urge all of you not to post susceptible species like these on social media with specific locations, including on shared online scientific sites other than at the county level.
