Snapping turtle season/ species of special concern /proposed changes to acts

[rfb]

Lets not get the environment Canada species at risk "junk" confused with "science". That's just plain silly.

But if I did take one thing from their document it's
"Reliable population size estimates of Snapping Turtles are extremely difficult to obtain, even with 30+ years of census data. "

In plain English - "we don't know what we are talking about".

I give up. God forbid we take away the right to harvest something until its gone.

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[werner.reiche]

I give up. God forbid we take away the right to harvest something until its gone.

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What you don't seem to get is that they are nowhere near being gone...
...and if some people spent a little more time outdoors - they'd know that.

[rfb]

What you don't seem to get is that they are nowhere near being gone...
...and if some people spent a little more time outdoors - they'd know that.

If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person alive.

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[jaycee]

If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person alive.

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Do you ever get out into the country and actually see what is out there , or do you just repeat what others that only think they know about such things say.
Some people can walk in the forest, but never see the trees.

Pretty well any where I go I see snapping turtles, in the swampy areas, out at our club when I go to shoot, at the golf course, anywhere there are creeks or ponds I/we see snapping turtles or signs of, where they lay their eggs.
There is no shortage of them , only in some peoples minds and their short sightedness.

[welsh]

These are the same arguments Newfoundland cod fishermen made, right up to the day the stocks collapsed.

Then they blamed DFO.

[mooboy76]

Thy must have missed southern Ontario farm country in there study. We have way to many big turtles around here. Every creek and irrigation pond is full of them.

How do you know there are too many? Have they eradicated local, native, fish or amphibian populations?

Since they typically can't start breeding until their carapace is over 20cm long (just over a the width of a cinder-block) , seeing many big turtles would normally be a positive thing.

[werner.reiche]

If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person alive.

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You appear to be an expert on ignorance.

"It must be true - I read it on the internet!!!"

[mooboy76]

Lets not get the environment Canada species at risk "junk" confused with "science". That's just plain silly.

But if I did take one thing from their document it's
"Reliable population size estimates of Snapping Turtles are extremely difficult to obtain, even with 30+ years of census data. "

In plain English - "we don't know what we are talking about".

Like with many ecological assessments, the data available is used. There are next to no snapping turtle studies going on. Snapping turtle sightings are collected by Ontario Nature, but I don't know if they are used as input for any evaluations. The big project going on in Algonquin Park it probably the only real snapping turtle 'thing' happening in Ontario.

Otherwise, turtle counts are generally reported in surveys of Provincial and Federal parks, or possibly through joint ventures with the EPA. I know that numbers for Rondeau and Pelee have been submitted over the years when Government has paid for some related herpetological studies, but there is essentially no money given for studying snapping turtles in Ontario. The push to fund applied science over the last two Federal Governments also siphoned money away from these types of studies, intentional or not.

Mandatory harvest reporting has been in place since 2012, but I think is pretty much unenforceable. Just from people posting in this thread, we have directly and indirectly accounted for half of the reported turtle hunters from 2012. Yet, I indirectly know of at least three more people that harvest turtles regularly. I don't think the MNRF has any real idea of the number of turtles harvested under the fishing licence scheme, but maybe I'm wrong.

So, I agree that there are only gross estimates on the numbers in Ontario. The hazards of road mortality and habitat loss does not seem to be on the decrease, those that poach or otherwise harass the turtles have no incentive to change, so I guess this is at least a measure the MNRF can control with existing resources.

I also find it interesting that the OFAH has spoken out against hunting restrictions on the snapping turtles, but I see no evidence that they are asking for turtle information from their members, or supporting research on the topic.

[mooboy76]

Ha! I found an interview/info video with Dr. Ron Brooks talking about snapping turtles in general. It is a pretty good watch, I tried to ignore the music.

I did not know that the male has to be bigger than the female for breeding. Learn something new every day.

Ron looks like he has aged pretty well.


https://vimeo.com/70387448