This week we spent a day surveying wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) populations in the area with Virginia Working Landscapes (VWL). VWL is an organization partnered with the Smithsonian, which aims to protect biodiversity in the region through the promotion of effective land management strategies. As part of their mission, they are monitoring wood turtle populations to determine what habitats the turtles thrive in and to determine how to best protect the species.
Wood turtles are a species native to Virginia that is extremely sensitive to human activity. They require a pristine habitat to be successful. They rely on clean, cold streams to hibernate in during the winter, which means pollution puts them at extreme risk. They are also a very mobile species, which can put them at risk due to threats such as cars.
To survey for these devils was quite a chore. It required strapping on waders and hiking through one kilometer of stream in one hour. Doing this insures that stream surveys can be standardized for comparison. We also used some radio-tracking devices to locate tagged turtles in the area.
As if vigorously hiking through a freezing stream full of slippery rocks while scanning perilously for inconspicuous reptiles isn’t challenging enough, halfway through our first round of surveying I discovered that my waders had a quarter-sized hole on the inside of my right knee. Anytime the water level of the stream rose above knee-depth, I was reminded that wood turtles only live in cold streams. It was also particularly frustrating that my right leg was considerably heaver than my left leg; my movement was less of a walk than a step-and-drag. But we marched forward nevertheless.
I learned that standardizing variables in field ecology can be almost impossible but is necessary to withstand scientific rigor. I also learned that half-leaky waders are perhaps the most evil of inanimate objects.