Sue Wieber Nourse Examines Spotted Male Turtle #1
Although today was gray and overcast, Sue Wieber Nourse took the Turtle Journal Turtle Dog (Rufus Retriever) to the abandoned Goldwitz cranberry bog for exercise and to check the spotted turtle mating aggregation for action. At the bottom of one of the bog channels, Sue discovered mature male Spotted Turtle #1. He was first captured in late April 2006 on our very first expedition to this abandoned bog with students from her Advanced Marine Science class. Spotted #1 was the first spotted turtle captured for research on the South Coast of Massachusetts. He was last seen in April 2010 and that story can be read on Turtle Journal’s Marked Male Spotted Turtle Rediscovered Four Years Later in Mating Aggregation.
Male Spotted Turtle (Clemys guttata) Number #1
Spotted #1 lost his right rear limb below the joint between 2006 and 2010. Yet, today the remaining limb stump looked healthy and healed. Spotted #1 shows all the key male identifying characteristics of the species. He has the drably colored chin and neck, the concavity in the center posterior of his plastron, and the thick, long male tail with anal opening far beyond the edge of the carapace.Â
Large Leech Attacking Spotted Turtle #1
A little worrisome is that Spotted #1 has lost five grams of weight since April 2010. Some of that lost mass may have been caused by the large leech that Sue discovered embedded to his neck. She obviously removed the leech after quickly documenting its presence. No apologies for interference. We’re saving the world one turtle at a time. Leeches will have to find their own champion.