There’s a turtle in our tub

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

The fact that a Western pond turtle was crawling around in our

bathtub last weekend is really not our fault. I suppose we could

blame it on Lena Hayashi, but she’d just blame it on Star Howard. In

a sense, we could blame it on the current oil spill that is

overrunning the International Bird Research and Rescue Center in San

Pedro with injured birds. It’s a complicated story, but here’s how

the turtle ended up in our tub.

Someone brought a Western pond turtle to the bird rescue facility

in San Pedro, which is treating birds injured in a recent oil spill.

The alert rescue workers noticed immediately that the critter wasn’t

a bird and sent it to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in

Huntington Beach. The turtle didn’t need medical care. It just needed

a home.

Star, who works at the Wildlife Care Center, suggested to Lena

that maybe the Friends of Shipley Nature Center would want it.

Blackbird Pond is a great turtle habitat and in fact already has many

turtles in it. Lena called us. That’s why there was a turtle in our

bathtub last weekend.

No, we didn’t put it in the tub to keep as a pet. The Wildlife

Care Center people wouldn’t have given it to us for that purpose, and

that would be illegal anyway. The Western pond turtle is declining

throughout its range and is a California Species of Special Concern.

Taking Western pond turtles from the wild for pets has already

greatly impacted the chance of survival of this species. Most turtles

seen in local ponds these days are nonnative red-eared sliders.

Our plan was to release the turtle at Shipley Nature Center in

Central Park on Monday. We wanted to wait to release the turtle when

the work crew from the Orange County Conservation Corps was present.

That would give the kids an opportunity to learn about Western pond

turtles and give them a good look at a member of this relatively rare

and declining species.

On Friday, we arrived at the Center to get the turtle. We got

there at the same time as an injured surf scoter, which is a black

seabird. The scoter had been transported from the International Bird

Research and Rescue Center where it had been cleaned of oil. Once the

birds are clean, they are separated by species into separate pools.

Most of the affected birds are Western grebes. There are so many of

them that they are occupying all of the rehab pools at the San Pedro

facility. The lone surf scoter will have its own screened outdoor

enclosure and pool to recuperate at the Huntington Beach facility.

We told the folks at the Wildlife Care Center that we had come for

the turtle. We were surprised to find that it was a youngster about 4

inches long, a bit short of the 7-inch length of a fully-grown adult.

They gave us some mealworms to feed it, and we brought the little

reptile home.

Vic made a temporary habitat for the turtle in a large dishpan,

with just enough water to cover the shell, and a rock for it to climb

on. He dropped in a couple of mealworms, which the turtle ignored.

Vic set the dishpan on the kitchen floor. But we had been warned that

turtles are good climbers. As a precaution, I moved the dishpan into

the bathtub. Good thing. The turtle escaped from the dishpan as soon

as we turned our backs.

While the turtle endlessly circled the bathtub, I did some

research on the Internet. Western pond turtles are found naturally

from British Columbia to Baja California. They are the only

freshwater turtle that is native to our region. The quarter-sized

hatchlings are particularly vulnerable to predation by nonnative

bullfrogs and large-mouth bass. The combination of loss of freshwater

wetlands, introduced nonnative species, and collection of turtles for

pets has decimated this species.

While ponds may have adult Western pond turtles, that is not

necessarily an indication of a thriving population. Only the presence

of a diversity of sizes indicates that the turtles are reproducing

successfully. Very few turtles survive the hatchling stage, but if

they avoid being preyed upon, the turtles can live for 50 years.

Western pond turtles feed mainly on dragonfly larvae and small

fish, both found in abundance at Shipley Nature Center. There are

plenty of places for a turtle to hide, and good upland spots for

egg-laying. The turtle will have a good chance at survival there. But

the turtle also will face challenges because its natural enemies,

coyotes and raccoons, are also present. It will find lots of

competition from the numerous nonnative red-eared sliders, a popular

pet turtle that is often released into urban ponds.

Vic believes that this turtle is a male. Workers at Shipley Nature

Center found a large female Western pond turtle there last spring.

With luck, these turtles will reproduce. And with even more luck,

enough offspring will survive over the years to carry on.

On Monday, we set the turtle on the ground a couple of feet from

the pond’s edge. It took less than a minute for it to stick out its

head, then its feet, and make a dash for the murky water. Well, maybe

“dash” is an exaggeration. We wish the little guy the best of luck.

He’ll need it.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].