ONE NEW TURTLE A DAY AND SOME INTERESTING RESULTS

An American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) stopped preening and began intently watching me as I was examining my net for invertebrates. Its orange eye and feather encrusted beak give it a rather menecing appearance. 

After two days of trapping, I have caught two turtles and they are ones I did not catch last month. Therefore, I know there are at least eleven turtles in the waterway. However, this time last month I had caught nine turtles compared to the two for the past two days. I put new bait in the traps today so I hope my success rate will improve over the next two days.

The results from today's gastric lavage I captured in a sieve.

Today’s stomach content sample is one of the most interesting so far. There were two items in the stomach; crayfish and rocks from the bank. It is interesting because the drainage substrate is mud and the banks where crayfish forage have small pebbles like the ones I collected today. It is a reminder that Western pond turtles gulp feed they swallow anything that is nearby their prey. Today, I found pebbles in the stomach but it is unlikely they target pebbles as a food resource. Likewise, this is true when I find filamentous algae in their stomachs. They are targeting the soft-bodied shrimp like organisms and insects living inside of the algae – not the algae. Repeatedly researchers have demonstrated this with a wide variety of animals, including turtles. It is easy to conclude they are eating the indigestible plant matter. This is because digestion quickly removes the small insects and other soft-bodied organisms and all that remains is the plant matter.

Pieces of a crayfish carapace, appendages, and body parts retrieved today.

Stones and plant material retrieved today.