In Ontario 7 out of 8 species of turtles are listed as ‘at risk’ to some degree. Two of the major sources of decline of several species are predation and road mortality. It is mainly nesting females that get struck on roads, leaving populations which might seem healthy, but are terribly skewed in favour of males. The proximity of roads to wetlands also means that turtles increasingly are using shoulders because of the ideal nesting habitat which leaves the eggs extremely vulnerable to predation. In order to combat this phenomenon the Grey County Forest Stewardship Network is making available ‘Turtle Nest Protection Cages’ which are bottomless cages that are submerged over top of the nest to prevent predators from digging the nest up. If you have turtles nesting on your property or have access to an area where you know turtles nest and would like to offer them some protection the network will provide the cages and instructions on how to use them.
If interested please contact: Jason Ritchie
519-371-8468
jason.ritchie@ontario.ca
Sing Once More
by Minerva Cook
Sing, sing towhee
sing your song of
“Drink your tea”.
Teach your youngsters
to eat and gather strength
for their journey south.
Sing once more, dear towhee
next year when you return
your summer home won’t be here
gravel digging will have begun.
Little hummingbird drink deeply
into bright cardinal flowers,
jewels of shady wetland edges.
Come back and taste all you can.
Next year your favorite flowers
will be covered by roadways
for gravel trucks to travel.
Drifting Monarch butterfly sip
nectar and rest on purple asters to
prepare for your trip to Mexico
Next year your granddaughters
won’t find swamp milkweed
where you hatched and fed.
Gravel will be dug instead.
Tiny spring peeper
you might as well peep now
When you awake in spring,
you won’t find your breeding pond
in a changing landscape where
tons of gravel are excavated
Farewell, dear friends.
I won’t see you here again
Sing once more, towhee.
