Tophat, our rescued painted turtle and mascot for rare, may be smiling today! Tophat’s kin, Chrysemys picta, is the 2023 Champion of March Species Madness, having narrowly beaten out the great horned owl in competition on Friday. As our mascot, Tophat is a favourite of our ECO Campers and visiting school kids, helping to spark a sense of wonder in nature in the next generation of conservationists.
Tophat is a bit busy, however; it looks like she may be working on producing some eggs. We are approaching nesting season for the painted turtle and the snapping turtle here in this region, so this means we need to be on the lookout for turtles near our roads, and turtle nests near places where they may be disturbed by human activity. Stay tuned for our announcement of the launch of our Turtle Hotline to report nests that may need protectors added, or nests which may need to be removed and incubated. Turtle nesting season starts in May and continues into the Summer.
Thanks to everyone who participated in March Species Madness, particularly Jenna Quinn who picked the 34 species to compete this year, and to all of you voters, who decided the final four and, ultimately, the champion. We hope you had a good time learning a bit about some of the species that call rare home. Give a big hand to the Painted Turtle, the Great Horned Owl, the River Otter and the Red Maple, who will be species to adopt during our Gift of Nature Campaign in November, and give a big hand (and protected space) to all 5,000+ species that call rare home.
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