Grace and Fidelity
“Grace” the 125 year old Snapping Turtle. Photo credit: Leora Berman.
By now you may already be familiar with the story of Grace, the 125 year old Snapping Turtle from Haliburton. She was a beloved celebrity among residents, spotted by locals in the area for at least 40 years. She was often seen meandering right through the middle of the village of Haliburton.
Grace was easy to identify due to her missing right eye and distinctively shaped carapace. She was the oldest known Snapping Turtle in the highlands of Ontario, which is no small feat! This tough old girl survived more than 125 years of predators, harsh winters, and human development. To put that into perspective, Grace hatched from her egg 15 years before the first automobile arrived in Haliburton County!
Turtles exhibit very high fidelity to both their nesting sites and winter brumation sites, choosing the same location, year after year. Brumation is a form of hibernation specific to cold-blooded (ectothermic) animals like turtles. Turtles do not need to eat during winter as the near-freezing water temperatures slow their heart rate and respiration down to the bare minimum of survival. Brumation is very risky for turtles and requires specific site conditions for success. Turtles have been recorded over-wintering within one meter of their brumation sites used in previous years!
This is why it is so important that we do not remove or relocate turtles from their known habitats! They will be lost and are not guaranteed to survive in a new range! Always record the exact location of an injured turtle before you remove it!
“Grace” spotted in Haliburton. Photo credit: Leora Berman.
Grace’s winter brumation site before it was filled in. Photo credit: Leora Berman.
Grace has been monitored by the Turtle Guardians since early 2018 and she was last recorded in her home range in September of 2021. Her winter brumation site was an environmentally protected wetland, home to other species at risk, located on private property. In January of 2022, the wetland was filled in by the property owner and Grace went missing for over a year.
Tragically, in July of this year, a kayaker found Grace’s unmistakable remains in a watershed 15 kilometers from her home range. It was determined that someone had likely relocated Grace and she was unable to find another suitable winter brumation site. Caught out in winter, far from home, Grace perished. Grace survived 125 years of nature’s harshest conditions but in the end, all it took was one single human action to seal her fate.
Grace’s heartbreaking story should serve as a lesson that our actions can and do affect the wildlife around us and we should always consider the ripple affect of our choices. Grace’s story also highlights the need for stronger protections for turtles and their habitats.
If you would like to learn more about how turtles survive the winter and the brumation process, check out the links below to our past blog posts on the topic!
Grace’s remains found in July 2023. Photo credit: Leora Berman.