[music playing] Rameen: The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King, America's farm and home store, livestock feed, farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You can find your store and more information regarding Rural King at ruralking.com.

Rob: Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of The Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Kelly: It was definetly a first for The Paw Report.

Coming up on this classic episode, we talk all things turtles, with Douglas-Hart Nature Center volunteer, Dakota Radford, who brings along one very special guest.

Come along, The Paw Report starts now.

An episode just wouldn't be so awesome unless we had some live critters joining us on the set.

Here with the live critters is Dakota Radford.

She's an educator, and also an instructor, volunteer over at the Douglas-Hart Nature Center in Mattoon, and we love, love, love having Dakota because she fills up the tables with goodies, she brings lots of fun stuff, and that's exactly what you did today.

Turtles is the topic, and lots of turtles are in the wild, we see them all over, we see them in the road, we see them in the ditches, our yards, and everywhere else.

There's a lot to know about turtles.

Thanks for joining us.

Dakota: It'd be pretty hard to miss turtles in our state, wouldn't it?

Kelly: Yes.

Dakota: I think everyone has noticed them.

Even just crossing the road, you know?

That typical problem of turtles wandering across the highway at their slow pace.

Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Dakota: Thank you for having me on to share some of the ... Kelly: You're welcome.

Dakota: Fascination of these weird, reptiles.

Kelly: Weird reptiles, that some people like to keep in captivity.

Dakota: That's right.

They can be everything from pets, to your dinner, to your wildlife viewing outdoors.

Turtles kind of effect our lives in a number of ways, and here in Illinois we're lucky to actually be home to 17 different species of turtles.

I think that's what makes it hard to miss around here, whether you're on land, or at the water, there's going to be a turtle species present making that its habitat.

Kelly: I think, when I think of turtle species you got your box turtle, and you've got your snapping turtle.

But, there's a lot more.

Dakota: That's right, right.

To get to our 17 species we've got all kinds of varieties.

Some are more common than others.

Now, the snapping turtle and the box turtle you mentioned, are some of our most common here in Illinois.

Out of those 17, we actually have six different species of Illinois endangered turtles, and a species that is threatened here in Illinois.

Some of these are a bit more rare to add to your list, and you may have to go to a very specific location to locate them, as you ... Kelly: What are some of the rarer ones?

Dakota: Yeah, so our Blanding's Turtle is a state endangered turtle, as well as the Alligator Snapping Turtle.

I couldn't bring one in today, I'm not ready to lift a 200 pound turtle, nor do I have one in my... Kelly: Wow.

Dakota: In my vicinity.

If you haven't ever seen an Alligator Snapper, that's definitely something you'll want to look up.

Just an incredibly large prehistoric looking turtle.

Down, even to the smaller ornate Box Turtles, our states only threatened species of turtle, is on that list as well.

Of having its habitat endangered to the point that it's starting to disappear from this area.

Kelly: You do so many different things at Douglas-Hart.

You've been on to talk about bees, and bird houses, and fun stuff, but you do get a fair amount of calls from people about turtles.

What are some of the things people ask you?

Dakota: Well that's a great question, 'cause there are misconceptions, and questions that we all have about turtles.

For instance, what do we do with that turtle who's crossing the road?

We certainly encourage you to break for him, but to actually make sure that you're setting him on the side of the road he was heading for.

Well intentioned replacing to the opposite side of the road, will just get that turtle to head across again after you've left.

We always recommend taking note of what direction the turtle was heading in when you stopped.

As well, we get a lot of calls about pet turtles.

One of the interesting things about making the choice to take a turtle in as a pet, is that you have to keep in mind the long lives of these creatures.

They're extremely interesting in that 100 year old turtle, has essentially the same organ vitality as a five year old turtle.

They really don't show that breakdown of the body in the organs, which is leading scientists to be quite interested in finding medical research from how their body's work.

By being able to survive that long, turtles can make a controversial pet.

It may be the right choice for some people, but we always have to consider looking ahead, "DO I have the interest and even the physical ability to care for a turtle for the 50 to 100 years?"

Often times we'll find that by creating pets from these creatures, further down the road we're creating pets that are in need of a new home.

Kelly: Your advice is maybe let that turtle cross the road and go to its natural habitat for now.

Dakota: I do recommend that.

I think as fascinating as they are, it's neat to maybe give one an inspection, and set it on its way, and keep watching for more to come by.

Some of these turtles are hard to turn down though, they're so neat looking.

Kelly: Yeah, I'm excited.

What'd you bring?

Dakota: One of the turtles that is very common here in Illinois is the Eastern Box Turtle.

This is a fascinating turtle.

He's a little dusty today, he's been playing around in his bedding.

This turtle is completely terrestrial.

You'll notice he doesn't have webbed feet, he actually isn't capable of swimming, even if he tried.

This is a turtle you would find in the prairie, or in the forest wandering around.

Oh, and that is one of the defense mechanisms if a predator is coming, to make a little miss there.

We won't mind.

Kelly: No, we've had everything on this set.

Welcome to The Paw Report turtle.

Dakota: There you go, well thank you.

He's not a very shy guy.

This one does live with us at the nature center as an educational turtle, and meets lots of visitors, and children.

Because of that, he's taken this really outgoing personality that you wouldn't normally see in a Box Turtle.

Typically, if they were approached by big humans like us, or a hungry raccoon, they would close up their shell using this hinged piece, and seal their legs, their tail, and their head completely inside the turtle shell to protect them from danger.

Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Dakota: This sort of box system allows the Box Turtle to have such a pleasant, what we would call personality.

He's a bit stress free, and not prone to getting upset by encounters with people, or life in general.

What you'll see in a little bit is some turtles don't have the same protection system a Box Turtle does, and that's going to lead to a little bit more defensive behaviors in other species.

Kelly: Anything about the shell, it's kind of painted.

Is that kind of distinct?

I know we're going to get to some other turtles.

Is that a distinct marketing?

Dakota: You're right, yes.

This shell is, you can actually use the markings to determine if it's an Eastern Box Turtle like either these two, or the more rare state threatened Ornate Box Turtle, which has a little bit different patterning on the shell.

There is actually a bone at the base of this shell, which you can sort of see on this example.

That's an actual bone, the turtle grows with its body.

It's covered in these colorful scoots, what we call scoots on top.

These are actually, believe it or not, fingernail material, what we call keratin.

The same thing that our hair and nails are formed out of.

Kelly: That's on the bottom part of the shell.

Dakota: That's right.

Kelly: Right here.

Dakota: It's on the top surface, as well as the bottom.

This is what we call the, "Carapace," and the, "Plastron," here.

It's just a protective surface to keep these turtles safe from predators.

It's a very nifty way to protect your vital organs there.

It's interesting to compare these two turtle shells actually.

I'm going to make him uncomfortable for just a moment to do that.

You can almost see the indentation in this turtle shell, and this indicates this shell would have been from a male turtle, I'm sorry.

Whereas this flat shelled turtle is more likely female, able to have room to carry eggs in there.

Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Dakota: That's one of the ways we can sort of tell if our turtle is male or female.

Kelly: Male or female.

Now, how big will this guy get?

How long will he live?

Dakota: Sure, this is actually a full grown Box Turtle, maybe even on the big side.

This is as big as they'll get.

Typically, they wander around the forest, and eat berries, and insects, and these are ones that can live up to 100 years.

Kelly: Oh my.

Dakota: Sometimes even longer in captivity.

However, what I find really fascinating is that these are common in Illinois, and you may have seen one wander into your yard before.

But internationally, the international community has identified this species as threatened.

Worldwide we're seeing a significant decline in their numbers.

How fortunate are we to live in a place where these are still something we can see almost any day?

Kelly: Yeah, and it seems like we see a lot of them now.

Dakota: Oh yeah.

Kelly: We're filming this in the end of June, but it seems like there's a lot of them out and about now.

You know, he's very curious.

Normally when you see a turtle, and I'm sure in his case, they quickly retract into their shell.

He's very personable.

Dakota: Yes, you can certainly tell this one has had that human interaction.

A turtle in the wild would have retreated into his shell by now.

Kelly: Is he a herbivore or carnivore?

Dakota: He is a little bit of an omnivore.

Most turtles do get a little bit of both in their diet.

They'll eat ... Kelly: Insects.

Dakota: Vegetation, and berries, but also insects in the water or on land, depending on where they live.

There are very few species of turtles though that have the ability to catch larger prey.

You've got to have some very special adaptations if you're going to go for something bigger.

You've got to be camouflaged, and you've got to be able to ambush that creature.

We're looking at turtles that are able to hide well, and then strike extremely rapidly.

I do have a very large friend with me today whose able to do that.

Kelly: Yikes.

I didn't have the pleasure of carrying the big friend in, but I watched as it was happening.

I don't know if you want to get to him yet.

You have some other habitats here, and I'm real curious to see the other types.

We'll probably leave the big snapper for ... Dakota: You want to finish up with him?

Kelly: Yeah, we can maybe finish with him 'cause he seems like might be a little antsy pants.

Dakota: He's going to Yes, he's going to fill... our table here.

Kelly: I heard somebody hissing.

Dakota: Let's move to the aquatic side of our turtle species.

This is our Red Ear Slider Turtle.

Was he hissing at you?

Kelly: A little bit, when he came out.

Dakota: Hissing is one way that they express their concern that you may be threatening them.

This turtle is not handled regularly, although we use him for education.

He's not going to be nearly as confident as my first turtle.

He's a pretty good size though.

These Red Eared Sliders can grow up to 12 inches, and this one is just about full grown.

He could still add a few inches on there.

What's fascinating about this turtle is he was an original addition to the Douglas-Hart Nature Center, and he was delivered after a car accident.

If you take a close look at his shell, you can still see the indentation where his shell cracked open.

This dispels a lot of myths that kids come into the Nature Center with, believing that a turtle can simply take off their shell, and find another one, or find a larger one.

If we take a look inside the Snapping Turtle Shell, what do you see down there?

Kelly: You see a spine.

Dakota: You see a spine, yep.

Their spine and their ribs are actually melded into the shell.

When this guys shell broke, he was in a life threatening situation.

Luckily just like our bones can heal, his shell bone mended up, covered up that wound, and he's doing very well today.

Kelly: How old is he?

Dakota: He has been with the nature center for at least 15 years, but beyond that, I can't age him for you.

Turtles really do not grow in a year by year sort of way, that we can make that estimate.

Their size depends more on what food is available to them, and how big their habitat is.

Kelly: Let's compare the Box Turtle to the water turtle.

You don't have to get them out if you don't want to.

He has to be in the water most of his life.

Dakota: That's right, that's right.

Kelly: Whereas the Box Turtle doesn't know how to swim.

Dakota: You're right, and you'll notice so many adaptations just from his streamline sort of torpedo body shape here, to his webbed feet, which I don't know if I can get one to really stay out for us.

He does have webbing between his toes to help him paddle through the water.

You'll notice the beak in the front here.

I call it a beak because it's really not that different from a bird beak.

It's a keratinoid structure that he can slice, he can bite, he can pull and grab with, and obtain his food, whether it's an insect, or a fish, or a piece of plant.

He's not actually able to produce the saliva to swallow that food, so you can imagine what he has to do.

He uses the pond or river itself to help lubricate his mouth, and he can only eat while submerged in the water that way.

Kelly: How much time does he spend under water as opposed to just chilling on a rock with a little bit of water underneath him?

Dakota: Well you guessed right with this guy.

Red Eared Sliders are totally known for their basking, sitting out on the logs.

That's because they can't actually digest their food unless they raise their internal temperature.

Being cold blooded, they have to absorb the suns energy to get their temperature up to 65 degrees before they can do anything with that meal they ate this morning.

Basking in the sunlight is a daily necessity for these turtles, and part of where they get their name Red Eared Slider.

They're going to jump right off that log into the water.

Kelly: And red ears.

Uh-oh, he's kind of hissing too.

Dakota: Oh hello.

Kelly: Your advice is I shouldn't put my finger out in front of its beak?

Dakota: You should not, that's right.

He's not a snapping turtle, but any turtle will do its best to defend itself when it feels frightened.

That could be biting, and that would be a painful bite out of this guy.

It could be scratching, it could be kicking and struggling.

If I had a musk turtle with me today, he might even secrete some very foul smelling odors to kind of warn us that we need to get away.

These are all ways that they protect themselves in the wild.

Now, while I have this big guy out, let me introduce you to someone a little bit smaller for comparison.

Kelly: That'd be great.

He's a little scrambler down here in this container.

Dakota: Yes, yes.

Although they look very similar, as they grow up you'll definitely notice how small this little Painted Turtle is.

Look at how tiny he is.

Kelly: Oh my goodness.

Beautiful.

I mean they really are beautiful, especially his neon yellow head, and his red neon stripes on his legs.

Dakota: You're right.

Kelly: Beautiful.

Dakota: They get their name Painted from their appearance of being a work of art, truly.

He's so small because he started life being hatched out of an egg.

Here's a crushed up piece of egg.

He began life even smaller than he is now.

He's grown significantly.

How long ago do you think he was born?

Kelly: Well, you know the sheer size you would think baby, so I would say fairly recently.

Dakota: You would think he would have been.

It's fascinating that since he's a Painted Turtle, he was actually born last fall.

Whoop, hi there buddy.

He was actually born last fall.

He hatched out of his egg in the turtle nest, which is located underground where the mother turtle laid the eggs.

Being such a small turtle, he and his brothers or sisters stayed underground in that nest all winter long, and hibernated.

Kelly: Oh, wow.

Dakota: He only, just this spring, he crawled out and started heading to the water to begin his life.

He's actually lived for several months underground preparing for this adulthood.

A very cute guy.

Kelly: How big will he... Will he get as big as the other turtle that you had displaying?

Dakota: He'll be a little bit smaller than that Red Eared Slider.

A little bit more modest size, but a very similar appearance as he grows up.

I'd like to say around seven inches across perhaps.

Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Dakota: When turtles are this small, I should point out, this is a period in a turtle's life where they are likely to be carrying bacteria that are body does not handle well.

These are the turtles that you have to be careful to wash your hands with after handling, as they could be carrying the salmonella bacteria.

Larger turtles really do not pose that same risk, but it's these little guys that you need to be cautious of.

Kelly: His life will be underwater, on top of the water?

When you walk by a pond or a lake and you see those turtles, or even a stream, you see those turtles kind of chilling on the log.

Is that a Painted Turtle, or a Red Eared?

Dakota: Sure, sure.

A Painted Turtle will also bask in the sunlight, and they do have to come up to the surface no matter what to get breaths of air occasionally.

However, the fascinating thing about these turtles is, in winter time, they hibernate, right?

Kelly: Uh huh.

Dakota: We all know they hibernate down, way down at the bottom of the pond, buried in the mud.

Occasionally I'll get a clever student or camper ask me, "Well, how do they breathe down there?"

Kelly: Oh, excellent question.

Dakota: It's a great question, isn't it?

When you stop and think about it.

These turtles have some incredible survival abilities, including things like sort of an anti-freeze chemical in their blood, and in their bodies that prevents ice crystals from forming.

But they also have specialized skin, that during hibernation, can pull tiny amounts of oxygen directly out of the water and into their bloodstream.

Little ways that help them to survive in almost completely anerobic conditions, no oxygen.

Kelly: Right, right.

Well I tell you what, we go from somebody that small to, I think we need to prepare the studio because you've got a big guy with you.

If there's ever a time to build some suspense on what we're going to see on The Paw Report, now would be a good time to gather the kids and get around the TV.

Dakota's got her job, you've got your job cut out for you with the guy that's in the blue tub.

Dakota: That's right, we're going to have an adventure here, we're going to be pulling the largest turtle I brought today, out up here by the table so that you can get a better look at him.

The turtle we'll be looking at is the same turtle as you're seeing the shell here, and the skull here, and of course this is our big Snapping Turtle.

You can see that sharp beak that he uses to catch his prey, and in a moment you'll see his excellent camouflage that allows him to get close enough to do that.

Kelly: What is the prey for a snapper?

Fish?

Dakota: Sure, they will definitely go for fish.

That's a protein packed, stomach filling meal.

But on a day when fish aren't available, they're going to go for anything they can get.

Whether it's insects, or crayfish, or frogs, or even the smaller turtle, better watch out when those snapping turtles are around.

They're looking for anything they can put in their bellies essentially.

Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Dakota: They can grow to be quite large.

Snapping Turtles can get over 50 pounds, so we're talking about some very big turtles.

Kelly: Oh my, and their life expectancy is the same as any other turtle?

It could be ... Dakota: I think they can get up to about 50 years.

They don't quite get into that hundred ranges, that we know of.

You can always find that old, old turtle at the bottom of the pond.

This is one of our, honestly our medium sized turtles, Snapping Turtles at the Nature Center.

We have some massively large Snapping Turtles that I would not even want to attempt to lift, but we're going to give this guy a try.

Snapping Turtles are edible, and with the right license, you can collect Snapping Turtles.

However, it is important to, no matter for what reason you're interacting with them, be extremely careful.

Kelly: That's why you're doing it.

Dakota: They are dangerous.

Kelly: You've got your gloves on, and I'm glad you're the one handling it.

I'll let you go to it.

Dakota: Yeah, you're going to see me hold onto his tail for stability, but you wouldn't ever want to pick one up by its tail.

It is attached directly into the spine, so that can lead to some serious health problems for the turtle.

All right, let's see what we can do here.

Kelly: Oh wow.

Dakota: Here we go.

Kelly: He is a big dude.

Oh my goodness.

Dakota: This is a big turtle, and if you're getting some ... Look at the side there, you're going to notice he has a lot of meat on him.

Kelly: Oh my.

Dakota: Extremely muscular.

This is what makes them attractive as a food source for humans, for raccoons, even for an eagle perhaps.

Now, if you wouldn't mind holding up that Box Turtle shell with the bottom on it, look at how protected that Box Turtle is in life.

Kelly: Right.

Dakota: As soon as a predator arrives.

I'm going to flip this guy up just a little bit.

You'll notice, he has hardly any ... Kelly: He has got some big legs.

Dakota: Plastron.

He has hardly any shell on that belly, doesn't he?

Kelly: He doesn't.

Dakota: He has leg meat showing.

This turtle has little choice but to have a very intimidating attitude, and aggressive personality to protect his assets.

You'll also notice how camouflaged he is.

He is trying to catch fish, he's hiding in the murk, and that neck can shoot out a good 10 inches to grab what he wants.

Even though he looks short... Kelly: How far away is he from me?

Dakota: Don't put your hand near his head, 'cause he can extend that neck significantly.

Yeah, for sure.

Those big fee that you're seeing are webbed, and adapted to dig down into the mud, to bury himself.

Or of it's a female, to bury her eggs in spring.

These turtle ... Kelly: Yeah, he's looking like, "What is going on?"

Isn't he?

Dakota: He's a fascinating turtle isn't he?

Kelly: He's going, "What is going on?

I want to get back to the pond."

Dakota: This guy will be released as soon as I get back in.

Kelly: Yes he will.

Dakota: Now, we have fish food inside the Douglas-Hart Nature Center, that any time a visitor is on the property, we encourage them to stop in and grab a bottle of fish food at no cost, and take that down to the pond.

You can throw it in, and I guarantee you'll be seeing a variety of turtles swim up to have a bite with you.

Kelly: Oh my gosh.

Dakota, I can't tell you how fascinating, and exciting, and wonderful today's episode was.

Very, very informative.

I learned that there are other species besides Box Turtles and Snapping Turtles here in Illinois, and I have to commend you for your handling of the big guy in the blue tub.

You did fantastic.

Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of The Paw Report, and giving us some very, very useful information on the turtle.

Dakota: Thank you Kelly, thank you for having me, and keep your eyes open for these guys.

Kelly: I sure will.

We hope to have you again another time, to talk about another interesting subject.

Thank you for joining us, for this episode of The Paw Report.

Hope you enjoyed turtles today.

And of course, Dakota's magnificent handling of that big Snapper.

We'll see you next time.

Rob: Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of The Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Rameen: The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King, America's farm and home store, livestock feed, farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You can find your store and more information regarding Rural King at ruralking.com.

Additional support for The Paw Report provided from Soggie Paws of Mattoon.

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