Saving box turtles, all in a dog’s day of work
Veterinarians, veterinary students, a special pack of Boykin Spaniels, and the dogs' owner have been working in Illinois and Tennessee to study and conserve wild box turtles, which serve as sentinels of ecosystem health. A turtle team from the University of Illinois found nine Eastern box turtles one Monday this summer. (Photos by Katie Burns)
Carly Clark (left) and Katerina Dudgeon, veterinary students, prepare to release dogs at the start of the search for Eastern box turtles.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
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The team searches for turtles in ravines at a forested park hidden away among the corn and soybeans of Central Illinois.
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Veterinary students Maura Ryan (from left to right), Maris Daleo, and Carly Clark; John Rucker, owner of the turtle dogs; and Dr. Laura Adamovicz, a research scientist, watch the dogs search for turtles.
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Ruger brings a turtle back to Rucker, who will hand the turtle off to the students.
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Lazarus carries a turtle back to the team.
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Yogi takes a swim to cool off.
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Nick Liszka, a veterinary student, hangs orange flagging tape to mark where a turtle was found.
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Back at the parking lot, a swab is collected from the shell of an Eastern box turtle. This swab will be tested for Emydomyces testavorans, an emerging fungal infection of turtles.
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Qian-Qian Huang (left) and Melanie Narvaez, veterinary students, collect blood from the subcarapacial sinus of two Eastern box turtles.
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Clark (left) supervises Huang collecting blood.
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Fayth Kim (left), a veterinary student, and Dr. Adamovicz collect oral swabs from an Eastern box turtle.
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The heart rate of an Eastern box turtle is determined using a Doppler ultrasound probe.
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Liszka determines the heart rate of a juvenile Eastern box turtle.
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Kim (left) and Dr. Adamovicz collect cloacal swabs from an Eastern box turtle. Melanie Narvaez (behind Kim), a veterinary student, records data from the physical examination, while Huang observes.
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Dr. Matt Allender, director of the Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois, collects shell measurements of an Eastern box turtle.
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The shell of this Eastern box turtle healed after predator damage.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
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Dr. Adamovicz conducts a physical examination of an Eastern box turtle that the team had found and studied previously. She said, “I never forget a turtle face.”
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
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Carly Clark (left) and Katerina Dudgeon, veterinary students, prepare to release dogs at the start of the search for Eastern box turtles.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 1 of 17
The team searches for turtles in ravines at a forested park hidden away among the corn and soybeans of Central Illinois.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 2 of 17
Veterinary students Maura Ryan (from left to right), Maris Daleo, and Carly Clark; John Rucker, owner of the turtle dogs; and Dr. Laura Adamovicz, a research scientist, watch the dogs search for turtles.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 3 of 17
Ruger brings a turtle back to Rucker, who will hand the turtle off to the students.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 4 of 17
Lazarus carries a turtle back to the team.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 5 of 17
Yogi takes a swim to cool off.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 6 of 17
Nick Liszka, a veterinary student, hangs orange flagging tape to mark where a turtle was found.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 7 of 17
Back at the parking lot, a swab is collected from the shell of an Eastern box turtle. This swab will be tested for Emydomyces testavorans, an emerging fungal infection of turtles.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 8 of 17
Qian-Qian Huang (left) and Melanie Narvaez, veterinary students, collect blood from the subcarapacial sinus of two Eastern box turtles.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 9 of 17
Clark (left) supervises Huang collecting blood.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 10 of 17
Fayth Kim (left), a veterinary student, and Dr. Adamovicz collect oral swabs from an Eastern box turtle.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 11 of 17
The heart rate of an Eastern box turtle is determined using a Doppler ultrasound probe.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 12 of 17
Liszka determines the heart rate of a juvenile Eastern box turtle.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 13 of 17
Kim (left) and Dr. Adamovicz collect cloacal swabs from an Eastern box turtle. Melanie Narvaez (behind Kim), a veterinary student, records data from the physical examination, while Huang observes.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 14 of 17
Dr. Matt Allender, director of the Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois, collects shell measurements of an Eastern box turtle.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 15 of 17
The shell of this Eastern box turtle healed after predator damage.
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 16 of 17
Dr. Adamovicz conducts a physical examination of an Eastern box turtle that the team had found and studied previously. She said, “I never forget a turtle face.”
Photo credit: Photo by Katie Burns
Slide 17 of 17