Preparing for the Start of Construction at LELLA

I haven't posted for some time because we have not been doing much worthy of a post.  Most recently I have been doing very little because I have not been feeling well.  We have not been walking and I am behind in planting for a fall garden.  I have even been throwing away produce from my existing garden for lack of energy to deal with it.  After about a million tests the doctors are narrowing in on the  "what" but do not yet know "why", thus I will go through a more sophisticated set of tests this coming week.

Box Turtle Recovery Project.  One thing I have been able to do most weeks is continue our volunteer work as part of the LLELA Box Turtle Recovery Project..  Fortunately I felt well enough last Friday morning and this morning to help the Frog with our weekly trip to LLELA for turtle maintenance. We are part of  a team that is raising several populations of young Eastern Box Turtles for eventual release. Box turtles attempt to return to their home territory if relocated.  The idea for the current experiment is to raise young turtles in pens at LLELA, hopefully establishing LLELA as their home territory. 

A complimentary part of the project conducted by a different team which is capturing, tagging with a radio transmitter, releasing and following wild adult Eastern Box Turtles.  The goal is to learn more about when and how far they roam and to identify what habitats they prefer during different parts of the year.

Releasing the babies into the Anatole last October

There are currently two groups of captive turtles, slightly older (perhaps 2 years old?), which we refer to as the "teenagers".  These have been living in the Adolphus pen.  There are also babies that live in the Anatole pen.

Six babies that had been hiding under the water tray in the Anatole.

When their shells are more developed and they are able to survive predation (probably around 3 years old) they will be released at LLELA in an attempt to create a self-sustaining population. There is someone assigned to clean their water trays and feed them every day.  Our day is Friday each week.

Lewisville Dam Safety Modification Project.  The two parts of the turtle project came together somewhat in the last week due to impending major upheaval at LLELA.  The Corps of Engineers is embarking on a massive six year, $150 million worth of improvements to Lewisville Dam, the so-called Lewisville Dam Safety Modification Project.  It is scheduled to start this summer.

At least during part of the work most of the road within LLELA will be closed, some trails will be closed, and the public will not have access to the dam outflow and river.  Major bummer!  Even though the Corps maintains a list of news releases and official documents for the dam, it is difficult to figure out exactly what is going to happen when.  They have not be forthcoming with much info even to the LELLA staff.  It seems likely work will begin soon since some of the construction signs are already in place. 

One thing we do know is that the construction company is going to place their mobile offices and parking lot in an area on the far west side of LLELA just off of Kealy Street.  Unfortunately that corresponds with the ranges for a number of the adult turtles being tracked (see map below).

Northwest corner of LLELA.  Lewisville Lake and the dam is at the top.  Jones Street is the road within LLELA that runs along the base of the dam.  The Visitor's Center and greenhouses are in the center.  Approximate location of the construction parking lot and mobile offices is within the red box.  Colored dots are some of the turtles being tracked and their locations over the past year.

What to do?  No one wants the turtles to be run over and crushed as the construction company clears that area.  The short term solution was to move the juvenile turtles from the Adolphus into the Anatole with the babies.  The tracking team could then put the threatened adults into the newly evacuated Adolphus pen.

The Frog and I moved seven juveniles (all we could find) into the Anatole last Friday.  That was actually fairly easy since they come running (yes, believe it or not, these little guys run) as soon as they hear us and look up at us begging for live crickets or live June bugs.  Whether or not they are actually chanting "Crickets! Crickets!" as the Frog claims, it is clear what they want.  It is also clear that they associate people with food.

With plenty of space in the vacated enclosure, the tracking team captured three adult turtles still in the area near the construction site and put them into into the Adolphus on Tuesday.  This Friday was the first we had seen all of the turtles in their new living arrangements.

Three babies and a juvenile begging for crickets while I try to work on cleaning their water trays.  When the Frog puts the crickets down in front of them they run toward them, sometimes multiple turtles fighting for the same cricket.

One of the adults. I am guessing this is a male since its eyes appear orange to me.  Females have dark red or brown eyes.  He is not scared, but not too sure about us either.  Note the gray pod (rf transmitter) on the right rear of his shell.   The antenna trails off towards the bottom.

Our group will "foster" the adult turtles until the construction site is established.  It is supposed to be surrounded by a chain link fence and material at the bottom that will keep the turtles out.  The adults can then be released again.  We only hope the bottom of the perimeter fence will be sufficient to keep them out.

Quail.  Although we have been visiting the turtles weekly, we have not been doing any hiking of the trails.  Even if I felt better it is awfully hot.  Hopefully when it gets a bit cooler we can check out all of the critters we have missed.  Among those are over 100 quail that were released yesterday in the eastern side of the preserve.  They are another declining species that LELLA staff would like to see grow.  Given the location of the release, we probably won't get a chance to see any.  However, we are still hopeful some quail may wander across our path someday.  They would be fun to see!