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HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2021

ORNATE BOX TURTLE PROGRAM

Once again in 2021 we were able to take advantage of the pandemic, which allowed us to work at the site on 60 days accumulating 462 hours of actual management, and our volunteer mileage in 2021 of 6,653 miles was used to provide the WDNR’s – Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation with matching dollars to acquire additional funding for their program.

Burn piles following a beautiful snow fall. We burned them just before losing our snow in March.

John Rice and Ron Hay burning the first piles of Oaks on the east side of the unit we manage.

We cut down two old and dying White Pines by the main parking area.

We continued our control of exotic plants as usual from spring through early fall on the Natural Area and on adjacent private lands where we have landowner permission. During April through July we pulled or treated Japanese Hedge Parsley (Torilis japonica) Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) and Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

We continued our efforts again in 2021 to reduce stem densities of three Sumac (Rhus spp.) clones. We are now four years into our treatment of these clones and we are seeing progress. We will be taking a different approach to managing these clones in 2022. We did not take photos of Sumac in 2021.

Wood Turtle Program

We modified three of our existing nest sites in 2021where numerous Common Snapping Turtles were incidentally digging up Wood Turtle eggs while digging their own nests. The modified design will be used in the future as warranted. Camera monitoring showed that the sites excluded Common Snapping Turtles but not Wood Turtles.

Common Snapping Turtles are unable to enter site.

We installed two new nest sites in 2021.

Modified electric fenced site installed in Iron County, Michigan.

We also conducted weed management on all 30 nest sites in 2021, 28 were managed four time and the two new sites were managed twice.

Nesting site prior to vegetation management in July 2022.

The severe drought in much of northern Wisconsin in 2021 appeared to have significantly impacted hatching success. Monitoring of post-hatched nests showed an increase in embryo mortality. This was anticipated, but unfortunate. One of our sites had 10 Wood Turtle clutches laid, but only one nest hatched. No nest predation was observed at this site.

Table- Wood Turtle Hatchling Results in 2021 at 10 sites in NE WI.

Sites	# Clutches	Total Eggs	# Eggs Hatched	#Infertile	Died in Egg
1	10	?	10**
2	0
3*	5	66	64		2
4*	3	28	24	1	3
5*	3	?	0***
6	0
7	2	20	14	2	4
8	4	30	27		3
9	0
10	0
Total	27	144+ ?	139	3	12

*These three sites have typically had significantly higher numbers of nests laid in previous years.
**No nest predation was evident.
*** No nest predation was evident and no hatchlings emerged.