Turtles Kingston

When possible, try not to straddle turtles, as common snapping turtles will reach up to protect themselves — getting injured — and smaller turtles might scurry as you go over top — increasing chances of life-threatening injuries or their demise.

Often, midland painted and northern map turtle hatchlings will spend the winter in their nests, emerging the following spring between March and June.

If you have a gravel driveway or piles of landscaping material, it may attract nesting turtles. If you don’t want turtles nesting in your landscaping piles be sure to cover them with a tarp before May 1. If a turtle does nest, it must be left where it is and not disturbed. The occasional car driving over a nest is fine, just ensure you don’t park any cars over top of it. Remember to watch for hatchlings!

If you accidentally hook a turtle DO NOT cut the fishing line as an ingested hook can be fatal for a turtle. If possible, lift the turtle out of the water with a fishing net or by grabbing the back of their shell (not their tail). If the hook is not easily and safely removable, bring the turtle to a rehab centre such as Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre or the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough.