Highlands-based charity Turtle Guardians has moved into new digs in Haliburton village, with lead Leora Berman hoping the relocation provides the non-profit with more of a presence in the community.
Staff and volunteers have spent months redesigning the lower level at 235 Highland St., creating a welcoming space for people wanting to learn more about one of the world’s oldest reptile species. The charity was located at the Haliburton fish hatchery on Gelert Road for about seven years, vacating the space in January.
“We’ve been looking for a new home for three years. Space was a challenge where we were, but the biggest problem was we didn’t have running water,” Berman said.
Berman said she loved being part of the community hatchery, but noted it was costing $800 a month transporting water to the site, while staff have been injured lugging around heavy buckets.
With about double the footprint to work with now, Berman and her team have given Turtle Guardians a fresh look. The main foyer was designed with children in mind. Bookcases line the walls, while there’s colours and decorations intended to mimic the outdoors; a structural support has been turned into a paper mâché tree, with the bright blue walls mimicking a clear summer day sky.
There are six rooms – some office space for staff, but also ones dedicated for turtle rehabilitation, turtle feeding, and youth programming. There will also be an “interpretive room” that Berman said will feature rolling exhibitions about things like turtle biology and behaviour.
Tours lasting 45 minutes are available during regular hours – Tuesdays/Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesdays/ Thursdays from 1 to 6 p.m. – and are $10 for people 15 and older, and $7 for children.
“Each one will be different depending on what your interests are. But there will be lots of learning opportunities – we’ll show you how to safely handle a turtle, and how to work with snapping turtles,” Berman great variety of music, local news & info! said. “I don’t know a kid that isn’t inspired or intrigued by turtles.”
All of the 20 turtles in the charity’s care arrived from the Ontario Turtle Trauma Centre and other facilities because they were disabled. Berman regards them as ambassadors, or “teaching turtles.”
Turtle Guardians is the third largest incubator in Ontario, Berman said, providing a controlled environment for the care and protection of nests that were in risky spaces. They have volunteers out in the community daily responding to incidents involving turtles on the road.
The group has over 180 registered volunteers and six sister chapters across the continent, in Ontario, Texas, California and Florida. Turtle Guardians also works with the OPP and several Canadian municipalities on training and strategies to ensure turtle nesting sites aren’t disturbed during road maintenance.
She said it’s important to save as many turtles as possible as it can take up to 60 years to replace fully-grown adults, which play a “vital role” in our lakes.
The group carries out lengthy research projects, too. Michaela Bouffard, a biologist and road ecologist, has been working with Turtle Guardians for the past year investigating how adult pheromones impact hatchling turtles. Recently, staff have noted an increase in egg implosions when they’re excavated from nests.
“We want to do some analysis to figure out why that is – whether it’s down to calcium deficiencies in the environment, the presence of microplastics or glyphosatebased herbicides,” Bouffard said. Berman noted the Highlands region is the only one in the province reporting this type of issue.
The charity is also finalizing testing for a turtle eco-passage fencing prototype, which Berman said can be installed at known road crossings where there are existing culverts. She hopes it will limit the number of turtles being hit by cars.
“We just have to get engineer [approval] and they’ll be ready to roll out across Ontario.”
