Eastern box turtle. Photo Courtesy of Nan Poor and Harwich Conservation Trust.
HARWICH – The Harwich Conservation Trust is seeking data from residents on a few threatened turtle species.
Eastern box turtles are legally protected under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act due to habitat destruction, vehicle strike mortality, and other causes.
Spotted turtles are also of conservation interest due to declining populations.
To protect and evaluate populations, Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program records verified observations in a database.
Individuals who come across one of these species are asked to take a photo, along with recording the time and date, location found, direction the turtle is traveling, the number of individuals, and description of the habitat.
The photo and information recorded should be forwarded to the Harwich Conservation Trust to be submitted into the state database.
For more information on the two turtle species visit mass.gov/nhesp.
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