With a bubbling waterfall, enticing earthworm meals and no predator in sight, it was no wonder that some rare turtles felt comfortable enough to begin making babies in a Mundelein middle school courtyard.
Still, the recent arrival of 11 baby Blanding’s turtles in mid-September surprised pupils, teachers and scientists, who expected it would take at least a year for a pair of adults to mate in the habitat designed just for them.
Kindergartners first observed the turtles getting friendly while peering through glass into the courtyard during summer school.
“It brings a whole new meaning to health education,” quipped Elise Hauptman, spokeswoman for Diamond Lake School District 76.
Now, thanks to the project, West Oak Middle School has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official wildlife habitat. Pupils will care for the offspring and release them into wetland areas when they reach 1 or 2 years old and are better able to fend off predators, officials said.
Blanding’s turtles are listed as a threatened species in Illinois, one step away from endangered, as development swallows up their habitat. The turtles, which have a distinctive yellow throat, are 7 to 10 inches long as adults.
West Oak’s burgeoning turtle population has sparked the curiosity of scientists who wait for pregnant females to lay eggs in May or June, then cover the nests with cages to protect them until the eggs hatch.
“It’s an opportunity to learn something,” said Christopher Phillips, assistant professional scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign.
“In urban and suburban areas, there are a lot more middle-size predators like raccoons and skunks,” Phillips said. “Those things really have a talent for finding the nests of turtles, digging them up and eating the eggs. That obviously is not going to be an issue at their site because they’re protected at the school.”
No one has a baseline number of how many Blanding’s turtles remain in Illinois, but because the species is so picky about its habitat, scientists are certain they are a threatened population, Phillips said.
Blanding’s turtles prefer plenty of vegetation and avoid large ponds, he said. Other species, such as snapping turtles, “don’t really care, as long as there is water and some dead stuff to eat,” he said.
Phillips’ pupils have been researching and protecting the nests of Blanding’s turtles at the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve in Will County and Spring Bluff Nature Preserve, north of Illinois State Beach Park.
At West Oak, pupils in a gifted and talented program designed and built the courtyard habitat with the help of consultants, teacher Toni Carmichael said. The courtyard, formerly weedy and neglected, now contains a small rocky creek, pond, waterfall, native prairie wetland plants and butterfly garden, she said.
The project cost about $45,000, which was covered through grants and fundraisers.
The courtyard also is home to frogs, toads and a painted turtle named Zippy because, after being hit by a car, his shell was bound by plastic zip ties. The Blanding’s turtles had been raised in captivity by owners licensed by the state to keep endangered species.
“Everyone loves turtles,” said Carmichael, who said teachers are incorporating the turtle project into science, art and language-arts curricula.
“I wanted to have some green snakes and garter snakes, and, well, that didn’t fly very well,” she said.
Carmichael chops up earthworms for the turtles to eat and has moved the babies into a plastic tub indoors to protect them.
The pupils who designed the courtyard did not expect the turtle couple (dubbed Big Daddy and Little Lady) to reproduce so soon. So when Carmichael presented one of the newborns to pupils one mid-September day, “we just went nuts,” said Danny King, 13, an 8th grader.
“This was unexpected,” he said.
Rosie Mazaheri, 14, also in 8th grade, said she was surprised at the large number of turtle offspring.
“It was really a great experience for us,” she said.
Carmichael’s husband, Rob, curator and director of the Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm in Lake Forest, is working with the school as a consultant. He envisions that the turtles will be released at sites in Lake County, possibly including the Middlefork Savannah in Lake Forest.
First, he will need to work with state and county officials at suitable sites, where they will not compete with existing populations for food, he said.
“We just have to make sure we do it right,” he said.
At West Oak, as the weather grows colder, Big Daddy and Little Lady will burrow under the mulch and undergrowth to hibernate while their toddlers thrive indoors.
Toni Carmichael, who said she feels like a proud grandma, already is envisioning the day they leave their sheltered home.
“It’s going to be really hard for me to let these turtles go,” she said.
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A particular turtle
Appearance: The Blanding’s is a medium-size turtle with a bright yellow chin and throat.
Habitat: The species is picky about its surroundings, favoring spots with lots of vegetation over larger ponds.
Status: In Illinois, the Blanding’s is considered a threatened species as development moves in on its habitat.
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lblack@tribune.com
