According to the
Virginia Living Museum website, in 2010 museum Education and Herpetology staff began a multi-year research project to monitor the population changes of freshwater turtles in a local watershed. The goals are to see what percentage of these turtles are native versus non-native. The museum also uses the
research project as an educational platform for students, volunteers and guests to learn about native turtles as well as what happens when people release pets into the wild.
Tomorrow is the last chance this year to see the Turtle Census. From 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, come out and watch Virginia Living Museum staff in the museum’s Children’s Garden as they again gather the turtles and collect their data. The turtles are collected from live-capture, baited hoop nets that have been placed in Deer Park Lake. After collection, the turtles are identified as to the species and gender, their shells are cleaned, and it is determined if it is a new turtle or a recapture. Each turtle is closely measured, inspected for injuries or other observations and marked for future identification. When the census is completed, the turtle is released back into the lake.
For more information about the turtle census and the data that has been collected, please visit the
Turtle Census site. The Turtle Census is included in the price of admission. The Virginia Living Museum is located at 524 J. Clyde Morris Boulevard in Newport News. For museum prices or more information about exhibits and events, visit the
Virginia Living Museum website.