Turtle Notching

When my family strolls around 'Noon' we like to identify the plants and animals we will share our home with when we finally move. Today I was interested in the different species of ferns that grow on the north slope of the forest.

Typical ground cover at 'Noon'
Maiden's Hair, New York and Virginia Ferns

A few days ago we found a turtle and today we found another one. We know it was a different turtle because we can identify individual turtles at 'Noon'.

Two separate photos of today's turtle.

An Old Friend

There are many turtles at 'Noon'. In fact since 1976 my family has documented One Hundred and Eight-Three different turtles and each time we find one there are moments of happy curiosity as we look to see whether this particular turtle has ever been found before, and if it has, when was the first time, how many times has it been found and most intriguing of all the exact location it was discovered so we can plot the size of each individuals habitat.

Step one - Find a Turtle. Actually, wait for a turtle to find you.

Step two - Look to see if it has been marked. We mark our turtles for identification by filing small notches in their shells. Yes, that's the secret and it obviously works. If you look at the back edge of a turtle shell you can see it is evenly divided into a left side and right side. The turtle we found today had one notch on it's left side on the sixth plate from the back and another notch on the right side on the seventh plate from the back.

The turtle you see above is Turtle #67. If you look you can see the notches in each photo (right side notch in the middle, left side notch located over foot).

Step three - Find Turtle book, take a photo and add new data to this turtle's information card. When we first moved to 'Noon' in 1976 my Mother began a wonderful Turtle Journal. All we did was find turtles, photograph them, determine their sex (the eyes of males are red and the females are brown), mark their location on a map, mark them by filing notches with an ascending number sequence, and document their personality. The Turtle Journal is now two books filled with photos and note cards describing each of the 183 different turtles we have found on the 100 acres of 'Noon' in the past 32 years.

Step four - Put the turtle back EXACTLY where we found it.

Turtle #67 was first found in 1986 in the same location, 1988 ten yards away, again in 1994 ten yards in the other direction, and today in the same location. In the past 22 years 'He' has lived his life in pretty much the same spot. If you have any land and any turtles I highly recommend this procedure. Each time we find a turtle it is an adventure and part of the history of 'Noon' is revealed.

left from center () right from center
To mark the turtle, file a notch, in the middle of the plate on the edge with an up and down stroke. This does not hurt the turtle. You are filing bone with no nerves. The tens on the left side and the single digits on the right side. For 100 file a notch on the left side on the tenth plate.

Turtle Notching is less common than I thought.