Grace, is an ancient snapping turtle, whose hibernation site is near the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School and feeding grounds extend beyond Head Lake across 118, and around Gelert Road- in other words, near many busy roads!Grace is likely over 125 years old judging by her carapace (upper shell) size, and could be as old as 200 years according to scientific studies. She is the largest turtle we, at Turtle Guardians, have had the honour of meeting in the county. She is 39cm, which is very close to the record size found in this area of Ontario that we know of at 42cm. Grace is not only notable because of her size, but she is missing her right eye.
Grace is named for the absolute miracle of her longevity and existence without significant injury or death in this busy area of roads and boats.
We have posted alerts to community members at large to watch for Grace on roads and notify us of any sightings. Grace needs to stay in her territory to survive and thrive and she needs our help. But Grace is like many other turtles- ancient, resilient and at the same time very vulnerable.
We, at Turtle Guardians, have launched an new volunteer program; Turtle Crossing Guards, to help monitor and assist turtles in high mortality zones get across roads safely. But to ensure that turtles are not injured and volunteers can get to them without causing havoc on roads, we are installing temporary silt fencing at these sites- so that volunteers can simply pick up the turtle and carry them across the road when it is safe to do so. Therefore we need some help! We need volunteers, but also funds to purchase silt fencing, high viz vests and signs that can demark the sites and the people, increasing safety for all.
Help us reach our targets through our GoFundMe Campaign here!