WRITTEN
BY SUSAN SHELLY - READING EAGLE 11/12/18
Courtesy
of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco photographs an Eastern Kingsnake.
The
message from Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco is clear: amphibians and reptiles
should not be discouraged from taking up residence in our yards and gardens.
In fact,
the environmental consultants urged, Pennsylvanians should do more to encourage
snakes, toads, frogs, salamanders, turtles and other reptiles and amphibians
onto their properties.
Bickley
and Torocco of Spring Township are herpetologists, zoologists who study
reptiles and amphibians. They are employed by Herpetological Consultants Inc.,
an environmental consulting firm that serves clients throughout the United
States and abroad.
Courtesy
of Mike Torocco | Quillyn Bickley holds a box turtle she found in a wooded
area.
Courtesy
of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco handles a snapping turtle.
The New
Jersey-based firm specializes in planning for wildlife conservation and protecting
the environments of endangered and threatened plants and animals.
Bickley
and Torocco recently presented a program on “Amphibians and Reptiles of
Pennsylvania” during a gathering at the Reading Public Museum.
Pennsylvania
is home to a great variety of common and rare amphibians and reptiles,
collectively known as herps.
A number
of them, including the bog turtle, redbelly turtle, southern leopard frog, New
Jersey chorus frog and rough green snake, are endangered or threatened.
Considering
the population, industry and environmental factors present in the state, the
number and variety of herps here is surprising, Torocco said.
“This
area has been settled and his habitat beat up for a long time,” he said. “It's
amazing that we have the diversity that we do.”
Manmade
factors such as gas and oil exploration, pipeline construction and automobile
traffic are disruptive to amphibians and reptiles, as are natural predators
such as raccoons, which dig up nests in order to get the eggs they contain.
“Raccoons
are very good at finding nests,” Torocco said.
Eastern
Pennsylvania is home to 22 varieties of salamanders, 16 kinds of turtles, 4
varieties of lizards and 21 types of snakes. Of the snakes, three types are
poisonous.
“We have
both rare species and then a great variety of common species,” Torocco said.
While
many people are afraid of snakes, lizards and other amphibians and reptiles,
they play an important role in the environmental landscape, Bickley explained.
Lizards,
snakes, frogs and toads eat a variety of pests, including slugs, snails,
roaches and rodents. Having herps on your property increases the diversity of
animal life, which is an indicator of a healthy environment.
To that
end, Bickley advised, try to be intentional when thinking about your yard and
garden, and work to provide food, water, breeding habitat and places for
reptiles and amphibians to survive over the winter.
Brush
piles, wood piles, logs, rocks and ponds will all encourage herps to take up
residence.
“Consider
your surroundings, and then consider what you're willing to take on,” Bickley
said. “Something as simple as a toad house can encourage herps on your
property.”
Layered,
flat rocks will encourage snakes, who love to bask in sunlight. Fallen logs in
a moist, shady are will attract salamanders, and ponds are home to different
varieties of turtles and frogs.
“If you
build it, they will come,” Bickley said.
A variety
of plants, shrubs and flowers also is important.
Learning
to live with and appreciate reptiles and amphibians may require a change in
mindset, Bickley said, but all living things are important in maintaining a
healthy environment.
She
warned that herps should not be relocated, but allowed to move from place to
place on their own. Never release non-native species of amphibians or reptiles,
and watch for hitchhikers when purchasing plants or other items.
“It's
really important, ecologically, to leave what's wild in the wild, and where it
belongs,” Bickley said.
About
Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco
Quillyn
Bickley and Mike Torocco are herpetologists, or zoologists who specialize in
the study of amphibians and reptiles.
They
are employed as regional managers of the Pennsylvania Field Office by
Herpetological Consultants Inc., a New Jersey-based consulting firm with
offices in New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Bickley
and Torocco conduct environmental surveys for clients to determine the presence
or absence of amphibians and reptiles on a property and other factors that may
affect housing, utility or other construction projects.
Courtesy
of Steve Edmonds | Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco exhibit a hellbender
salamander found in a creek.
Courtesy
of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco and Quillyn Bickley use radio tracking to
locate amphibians and reptiles
Winter
habitat management will help Blanding’s Turtles in spring
Winter
habitat management will help Blanding’s Turtles in spring
Blandings
Turtle
From NH
Fish and Game: Late summer and early fall is the time when eggs laid by New
Hampshire turtles in the spring begin to hatch and future generations emerge
from their upland nest chambers. With luck and excellent camouflage, these tiny
hatchlings will make it to the safety of a pond, stream, or wetland. In an
effort to move ahead with conservation actions while turtle populations
overwinter, Fish and Game biologists have been working with local, state and
federal partners, landowners, and land trusts to identify areas within
high-priority turtle populations where nesting habitat can be created to
decrease the likelihood of females crossing roads or entering residential
developments.
“The
location of a suitable nesting area is crucial for successful nesting and
hatchling survival,” said New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Wildlife
Biologist Josh Megyesy. “For some sites, creating nesting areas requires
cutting trees to expose the ground to full sunlight and then bringing in sand,
while others just need some vegetation cut back and soils scarified with heavy
equipment.”
This kind
of habitat management in sensitive turtle areas is done during the winter
months when turtles are hibernating in the water and the ground is frozen. Some
of this work has already been initiated in key areas in the Granite State, but
more will continue this coming winter and beyond. The Fish and Game
Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program has been monitoring
populations of several rare species of turtles throughout New Hampshire,
including state-endangered Blanding’s turtles. Through mark-recapture methods
and the use of radio telemetry to track individual turtles, biologists have
been able to better understand how these turtles use their diverse wetland and
upland habitats.
“For two
years we followed this one particular female Blanding’s turtle,” explained
Megyesy. “The first year we tracked her from wetland to wetland, and eventually
after crossing a road she then nested in a residential environment. The second
year it was amazing to watch her follow almost the exact path she had taken the
previous year, and nest again on the same property. It became clear that good
nesting habitat was lacking within the core of their territory and something
needed to be done.”
Other
females from other populations followed a similar pattern, each time increasing
the chances of road mortality. These turtles require sandy, well-drained areas
with full sun for nesting and successful incubation. Female turtles dig a nest
chamber, deposit eggs, cover the eggs with soil and then depart, leaving the
embryos and future young turtles to fend for themselves.
“For rare
turtle populations to persist in New Hampshire, it is essential that adult
female survival rates are high and that new young individuals are added to the
populations,” Megyesy continued. “Turtles have coped with various threats by
being able to live for a very long time, with some local species of turtles
possibly exceeding 70 years! But low survival of young isn’t the only reason
why turtles must live a long time − female turtles of some species may not be
capable of reproducing until they are at least 15 years old.”
Many of
the monitoring and conservation actions for rare turtles in New Hampshire are
made possible by federal programs, such as State Wildlife Grants administered
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service New England Field Office, along with matching state funding from the NH
Conservation License Plate funds and individual donations to the Nongame and
Endangered Wildlife Program. Biologists are also working with the US Department
of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to protect turtles and
their habitats occurring on private working lands in the state.
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