Turtle M17 was found crossing the road on 7/7/11 after a warm afternoon thunderstorm. I thought this male was a resident of this study population, and he did spend about a month in the area passing very close to at least 2 tracked females, but on August 10th he traveled back across the road and left the area for the rest of the season.
After successfully crossing multiple roads, ridges and pastures, he walked into the St. Mary's Wilderness Area (USFS) where he hibernated, and was lost.
I don't know if he deposited DNA into this population's gene pool, or if he makes occasional visits to this population. It may all be a waste if recruitment is eliminated by the uncontrolled populations of raccoons, foxes, etc.
PROMOTION OF GENE FLOW BY TRANSIENT INDIVIDUALS IN AN OTHERWISE SEDENTARY POPULATION OF BOX TURTLES, A. R. KIESTER, August 18, 1981
Terrapene carolina carolina
A Relict Population Doomed To Extinction?
Turtle M66, a large and very old male, was found crossing the road on 6/3/21 and tracked into hibernation in mid-november, after tracking him cross-country for 2.2 GPS miles.
Likely another transient, he will be tracked in the future for as long as possible. Definitely not a resident member of this study population, he may possibly be a member of another local population nearby, and may return to this study area to meet and mate in the future.
He was also tagged with a message vial in case he is found in the future.
