Signs at Wilson’s Bay Marsh aimed at limiting toll on threatened turtles.
Caution: Turtle Crossing!
Yellow diamond-shaped signs featuring a large turtle were posted on Cape Vincent roads near Wilson’s Bay Marsh during the month of June, as part of a collaborative effort among Ontario Bays Initiative, the Town of Cape Vincent and SUNY Potsdam’s Biology Department.
The goal: To protect Blanding’s turtles as they ventured across roadways on their way to nesting sites.
The turtle-crossing project was a great community outreach project for OBI and local newspapers and television stations covered it. The purpose was to help educate area residents about the plight of the Blanding’s turtle and help give the medium-sized turtles a fighting chance during the nesting season that is so crucial to their survival.
The Blanding’s turtle is officially listed as a threatened species in New York and in several other states.Some of the slowmovers are killed each spring near Wilson’s Bay Marsh as they attempt the treacherous trip across two lanes of traffic in search for a place to lay their eggs. With the species already struggling, each dead turtle can have a significant impact on the marsh’s Blanding’s population. Several dead turtles were discovered before the signs were erected.
Ontario BaysInitiative’s Board of Directors is made up of people who live along Lake Ontario shoreline communities, including severalboard members from Cape Vincent. OBI teamed up with the Town and the expertise of Professor Glenn Johnson, who has working to reduce Blanding’s turtle road mortality in Jefferson and St. Lawrence since 1998.
”What we’ve learned is that the most significant mortality factor is likely to be roadkill,’’ for female turtles, said Professor Johnson, chairman of the biology department at SUNY Potsdam.
Signs are an inexpensive way to go about increasing awareness, he said. The signs were provided by the town and Mr. Johnson for use by OBI, which initiated the sign postings.
"This effort fits OBI’s overall mission to protect scenic areas and the wildlife habitats in the shoreline communities of Jefferson County," said Jim LaPlante, a resident of Cape Vincent’s Fuller Bay and OBI Chairperson. "OBI is happy to be involved and we hope that the Cape Vincent community will join us in our effort to protect the Blanding’s."
Wilson’s Bay Marsh in Cape Vincent is home to an estimated 50 to 100 Blanding’s, which are also known as box turtles because of their domed upper shell. They have a distinctive bright yellow chin and throat, with dark head and legs that are speckled yellow.
Blanding’s can live upwards of 50 years, yet the risk of becoming roadkill and the raiding of nests has resulted in evidence of fewer young turtles in roadside populations.
Professor Johnson and the town of Cape Vincent provided the signs.
OBI hopes to make the turtle-crossing project an annual event in Cape Vincent.
