They would call it catching instead of ...

Kate at rest on a basking rock where the turtle that got away hangs out.

NOT TODAY BUT MAYBE TOMORROW

Today was another very hot day, the fourth one in a row! It was a typical day because no turtles were attracted to the traps and this is a common scenario. Often even though I see turtles swimming or basking in an area, they avoid the traps. For example, we saw or heard three turtles today and caught none. The first sign of one was the deep kerplop sound they make when the drop into the water from a basking site. Later on, I saw a large basking near a trap and another floating nearby Kate as she was searching the area for spiders, dragonflies, and damselflies. 

This western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) was swimming a short distance for Kate and within a meter of a hoop trap. Obviously it is more interested in looking up at me than getting ensnared in the hoop trap.

It is easy for us mammals to forget that the biorhythms of reptiles are remarkably different from ours. Specifically I mean that some reptiles do not need to eat every day and in the case of western pond turtles (WPT), there are no published studies on how frequently they eat. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Setting traps for turtles reminds me of going fly fishing – they would not call it fishing if you get a fish each time, it would be called catching. I will end my discussion of turtle trapping with that hackneyed statement.

Activity traps and more ...

In this photograph Kate is inspecting the placement of bait  she just put into the activity trap made from a Gatorade bottle. In her right hand is the float used to mark its position in the water for retrieval. 

Aside from not catching turtles, the day was productive; we set the rest of our activity traps and searched the area for insects and spiders. Yesterday I set out a couple of activity traps without bait to test if my new design was working successful and it is. Therefore, today Kate and I added bait to each of the six traps. 

The activity traps (circled) nearby a hoop trap that a turtle will hopefully enter. Seated on the basking rock a large Western Pond Turtle frequents is Kate with her collapsable insect carrier in her lap and aerial net over her shoulder.

TOMORROW ... Odonates, unknowns, and
                                                                 ... a turtle or two
                                                                         ... well maybe
                                                                                     ... there is always hope !