snapping turtle monitoring project
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Coastal Action was awarded funding from the Habitat Conservation Fund in the spring of 2020 to initiate a snapping turtle monitoring project in the Petite Rivière watershed, Nova Scotia. Snapping turtles are one of four of Nova Scotia’s turtle species and are currently listed as “special concern” under the Species at Risk Act. Because snapping turtles are a long-lived species that reproduce later in life, they are particularly susceptible to steep population declines when adult mortality increases. The main threats to snapping turtles are anthropogenic (human caused) and include road mortality, persecution, and legal and illegal harvesting.
Our snapping turtle research is focused around gathering baseline data on the snapping turtle population in the Petite Rivière and to provide education, dispel misinformation and reduce anthropogenic threats to the species. Visual surveys are completed in the spring and fall during nesting and emergence season and trail cameras are installed at the nesting sites. This allows us to examine nest and hatchling predation rates; identify predators; and evaluate the impact of humans and human subsidized predation on nests and turtle hatchlings. In this study, we also gather baseline population data on Milipsigate and Hebb lakes through adult turtle trapping. When caught, biological measurements and photographs are taken of each individual and they are given a unique notch code so they can be identified if caught again later on. These population data will be used to inform future snapping turtle monitoring and research in Southwest Nova Scotia. 
This project is supported by the Nova Scotia Habitat Conservation Fund |
Female snapping turtles nesting. They prefer soft gravel areas (like the side of the road) to dig and lay their eggs.
Egg shell fragments from a predated snapping turtle nest.
Hatchling snapping turtle spotted during the fall emergence season.
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