Meet Rusty, The One of a Kind Turtle

Environment Sep 27, 2021 by skylar

Did you know that Ontario has one species of turtle that can eat on land? This my friends is called the Wood Turtle, the most terrestrial of Ontarios 8 turtle species. Did you also know that the Wood turtle is listed as endangered Federally and Provincially? These turtles, along with the Spotted turtle were heavily poached for the pet trade, which resulted in the low numbers that we have left today. The Wood turtle will travel along land and eat anything they can find, this could be mushrooms, apples, berries and worms, ESPECIALLY worms! They have actually developed a method to hunt their worms, they would find a damp spot on the ground and start tapping their feet, tricking the worms into thinking that it's raining and as they emerge from the ground, the turtle gets the worm. These turtles get their name from the beautiful colouring and pattern on their shell, that helps them camoflouage with logs and the forest floor. Now that you know a little bit about the Wood turtle, I want you to meet one!

Meet Rusty

Rusty is one of the ten ambassador turtles we have here at the centre, and he has captured our hearts, this is his story:

Rusty was apart of a study that began in 1994 and was tracked for 22 years using a method called radio telemetry. Over the course of this study, he was found 64 times by researchers. In 2018 Rusty was found for the last time, and found in a serious state. A predator had found Rusty and injured his two front legs, we guess that it was a raccoon as they have the ability to pull the legs out of the turtles shell. Rusty was rushed to the hospital and was given surgery. The legs were found to be infected, which resulted in Rusty losing his two front legs. Luckily, this does not stop Rusty from living an amazing life! The centre was able to obtain a permit for Rusty to use him in the education program. Rusty can still walk around but cannot swim, so we have to keep his water fairly shallow. But Rusty sure does love his fruit! Rusty loves to be on camera and always wants to see what is going on around him. They are said to be one of the most intelligent turtle species.

If you have anything else that you want to know about Rusty feel free to comment down below or shoot me a message! :)

Click the link to enjoy Rusty eating his lunch :)

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