WHY OUR NATIVE TURTLES ARE DISAPPEARING

Many of Oregon's wetlands have been lost to development and agriculture. With the loss of wetlands go the turtles and many other native animals.

Even though it's illegal, people continue to take turtles from the wild - to eat, to sell or to take home as pets. If you see turtles for sale on web sites, it's extremely unlikely that they were bred in captivity, even if it's claimed that they were.

Red-eared sliders and snapping turtles are native east of the Rockies and have no place in Pacific Northwest ecosystems. Pet owners who thought they were doing a favor by setting them loose have introduced these turtles here.

When turtles bite on fishing bait, they frequently swallow the hooks. This can be fatal as the hooks are difficult to remove.

Turtles are slow. Cars and trucks are fast. Turtles' tough little shells are no match for our vehicles.

Female turtles leave their aquatic habitats in the summer to nest on adjacent sites that are drier. They look for open, sunny, sparsely vegetated areas, since their nests are incubated by the sun. The turtles' nesting habitat is disappearing not only because of human encroachment, but because of the invasion of non-native plant species, such as reed canary grass, blackberry and Scotch broom. When these plants become dominant, turtles can't easily dig in the substrate, and the sun doesn't reach their nests.

Bullfrogs are native to the eastern United States where they are an important part of wetland ecosystems. In Oregon, they are out of place and out of control. In some areas they eat almost 100 percent of the baby native turtles. As a result, our remaining Willamette Valley turtles are almost all elderly and their efforts to reproduce are in vain. Introduced largemouth bass also prey on baby turtles.

Basking is CRUCIAL to the survival of turtles. Turtles must thermoregulate to digest food and develop eggs. If they are continually disturbed in a particular area, they will leave and try to find a place with less disturbance. It is important for boaters, including kayakers and canoers, to keep a safe distance (at least 100 feet) from basking turtles.

					The Lower Willamette Turtle Conservation Project was formed to share expertise among various organizations and agencies involved in turtle conservation and to promote appreciation and conservation of turtles by all Oregonians.