Pond Turtles

The Oakland Zoo is part of a program with Sonoma State University where they "head start" Western Pond Turtles. Western Pond Turtles are considered a vulnerable species and at a particular lake, it was found that the young are heavily predated. This partnership program gathers eggs during the summer from nests at the lake, hatches the eggs in incubators, and distributes the hatchings to a few zoos in the area to raise for a year. Oakland Zoo had 46 hatchlings ready to be released, so off we went to the Boggs Lake to release them!

Noah was excited that the turtles sat next to him on the drive up there.

He was patting them and told saying "I know you're scared, but don't worry. Your mommy will be at the lake and she will keep you safe." Super cute and very proud parenting moment.

Pre-release vitals check.

Pre-release snack.

The whole crew.

Off into the reeds we go.

Noah rode out to the water.

When we got to the release site, he got down and dirty with the rest of us. Goodbye little turtle!

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Noah even released one himself!

Swim free!

Ooh, mud.

Filthy, but fun!

These were white once...

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Noah entertained us with made up songs on the drive home.

His signature smile!

We were about 30 minutes from home when Victor made a horrible discovery. We had stopped for a potty break and Victor decided to organize the bins in the back of the car. Look who he found! This poor little guy had buried himself in the moss in the bin and missed being released with his friends. What else was there to do, but turn back around, drive the 60+ minutes back to the lake and let the little guy join his friends. It made for a very long day, but all the turtles were home where they should be.