Our Programs
Local Habitat Restoration
Our starting point is creating safe places near us for turtles to live in and be released into. We are working on revitalizing a couple of private ponds for water turtles that we rescue to live and breed in. We are also working on enclosing large areas of forest with electric fencing to keep predators out and Eastern Box turtles safe. Currently we are doing this on our own land, but would love to expand and do the same for other people.
If you have a pond that you would like to see happy, healthy turtles in or a forested area that you would like to volunteer for turtle habitat, just contact us below and we will come and help you make it work. We would love to work with you!
Revitalization of Shearon Harris Reservoir
This is our big project for the next few years. We are working to return the Shearon Harris Reservoir to its former glory as a diverse habitat filled with local fauna and flora. We will be working with volunteers to remove nonnative and invasive species from the reservoir and then working with Mellow Marsh Farms to replant the entire reservoir starting with fenced off inlets and tributaries and moving outward into the entire lake. We need funds and volunteers to make this possible!
Relocation and Rehabilitation of Local Turtles
We take in any displaced or injured turtles and care for them in our own private ponds and tanks until they can be released into the safe habitats that we are working to create. With cases too severe for us to handle, we work in tandem with the NC State Vet School. Through them we get help with turtles who need major surgeries or medications we don't have access to. In turn, we foster many turtles from their program who are recovering in controlled environments and then released back into their former habitats.
Turtle Breeding Program
In our private ponds and enclosed forest areas we monitor our turtles breeding habits to ensure healthy breeding. Once eggs are laid, we collect them and place them in our own incubators to ensure they incubate safely and at the proper temperatures to produce roughly 50/50 sex ratios of hatchlings. Once hatched, we will raise the babies in tanks for their first year until they're hearty enough to survive in our protected ponds and someday return to the general turtle population in other protected habitats.
Sponser A Turtle
Turtle care isn't the most expensive endeavor, but they still requite health checks, food, water pumps and enclosure maintenance. If you haven't got the time to come volunteer with us but still want to help the turtles, consider sponsoring a turtle for a year. We will send you updates and photos of your turtle and how it is doing.
Contact us and let us know if this sounds like something you would want to do!
Continued Research and Health Monitoring of Local Populations
Every turtle we get our hands on is photographed, weighed and inspected. We record all of our date down to the exact location the turtle came from and where we place it after its check-up. Turtles in our care get weighed and checked every month to make sure they're not losing weight or have any fungal or bacterial infections. We compare our data over time to draw conclusions about the health of local turtle populations and learn what else we can do for them.
