September 20th
Baby Northern Red Bellied Cooters in our Lower School Science Lab!
To help these rare turtles rebound, the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Department has been conducting a turtle “Head Start” program since 1980. Each year, over 100 turtle hatchlings are taken in by volunteers, who keep them warm and feed them throughout the winter. Turtles eat a lot more when their bodies are warm. In the wild, the baby cooters would stay cold all winter, not eating or growing much, and most of them would be eaten by predators. “Head-started” turtles are released in the spring, when they are too big to be consumed by predators. We are very excited that Glen Urquhart is participating in the cooter program this year!
Read more about this beautiful and endangered turtle here.
