It was back in early June when you got your first taste of terrapins. The first job involved dip netting for turtles. The goal was to catch as many as you could; measure, weigh them, and then release them back into the water.
You pulled on the communal waders as your feet slid easily in the clown-sized boots. You tied them on as tightly as possible but there was still enough room for another person. Trudging through the wet and mucky sand, you made your way out to the water. Every step sounded like you were releasing the air out of Jell-o when you first stab a spoon into it.
Swimming terrapins can be fast when they want to be (photo by Leah Desrochers)
The hike out to the water was exhausting. You were sweating in the waders, hair was blowing into your eyes, and you just couldn’t wait to see your first terrapin. You grew slightly impatient as everyone around you had terrapins in their nets but you had yet to see a single one. You envied their skills and wondered what you were doing wrong.
That is, until you saw a swimming turtle a few feet in front of you. You darted your net in and missed. These guys were fast! Second try and you got him.
You gingerly placed him in a bucket. Minutes later you’d captured five turtles. At one point you had three in the net at the same time! You forgot that you were ever frustrated and you couldn’t help but squeal in excitement every time you found another one. People around you were calling out for buckets. Small competitions were taking place. You silently kept count of their turtles and raced against them all. An hour later, the group of over 20 people had caught approximately 75 terrapins. You alone captured 15. Your adrenaline slowly declined as you calmed down from your turtle-induced high.
A Tub of Terrapins (photo by Leah Desrochers)
You all made your way back to land and spent the next 2 hours measuring the carapace and plastron of each turtle. You weighed them all and recorded the data. You learned to notch the ID numbers on the adult males before releasing them. You tried not to get sucked into the muck while you said goodbye to your chelonian friends, placing a male adult at the water’s surface. He swam down into the depths of the creek but not before passing by your feet.
Free swimming terrapin (photo by Ron Kielb)
As you walked away, you discovered you had developed a greater respect for these animals.
It has become your job to save them, speak for them. And you are ready to do just that.
Terrapin youngster (photo by Leah Desrochers)
Leah Desrochers attended the University of New Hampshire where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Marine, Estuarine, and Freshwater Biology with a minor in Animal Behavior. After falling in love with skunks and mountain lions during a stint with the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona, CA , she is now back in New England working with her favorite animal, making her way toward her ocean career, and saving the animals one individual at a time.