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Kylie Orndorf of Reeds Gap State Park in Milroy holds a wood turtle.
MILROY — Thinking about getting a turtle as a family pet? Kylie Orndorf says reconsider.
Orndorf, an ecological interpretive specialist for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources at Reeds Gap State Park in Milroy, said turtles may look like low-maintenance animals, however many types can live for years, that makes them a life-long dedication.
“I feel it’s their docile behavior and slow movement,” Orndorf said about what makes turtles so appealing as animals. “When you see a turtle, you seldom, if ever, seem like you’re in threat. Which is actually intriguing since reptiles as an entire group aren’t generally thought about ‘cute or fun,’ and numerous – like snakes – are frequently feared.
“Even though turtles aren’t furry or have the ‘Bambi eyes’ we see in wild animals we often think of as cute, there’s still something that draws us to care about them.”
Orndorf will be the highlighted speaker at the Towpath Naturalist Society of Juniata and Mifflin Counties conference at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 in the Fellowship Hall at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 120 N. Main St., Lewistown. Her discussion is called, “Let’s Talk Turtles.”
“There are countless stories throughout history of their helpful or cunning nature, so perhaps we’ve always been taught to appreciate these gentle critters, and be happy to see them when we can,” Orndorf explained.
And while some animal enthusiasts may be happy to see a turtle, they may be dissatisfied with having one as a family pet.
“I actually have a friend who has a pet tortoise, but he spends his winters hibernating in their basement, and then wandering around his backyard grazing in the summer,” Orndorf said. “That’s all he does. Additionally, turtles can live a very long time, sometimes a turtle can out-live its owner.”
Orndorf motivates anybody who has an interest in discovering how to recognize turtles you may see out and about around you to attend her discussion. “It won’t be a lecture on every single turtle species we have here in Pennsylvania, because that’s a lot,” she explained. “It’ll be an interactive conversation about what you actually might see around you in life and how you, the average Pennsylvanian, can help our regional turtles.
“I like to keep my presentations interesting with interaction from the audience,” she included. “In any program I do, I don’t stand up on a soapbox and talk for the entire time, I like to get my audience thinking and participating in more of a discussion of our topic.”
Orndorf said nature enthusiasts frequently understand more than they frequently understand. “Sometimes, it just takes the right questions to bring this information forward and really connect the new information they’re learning, with that information they already have from their own personal experiences.”
She’ll have some turtle shells to bring these turtles more to life than simply discussing them.
“We will be focusing on turtles, what makes something a reptile and a turtle specifically,” Orndorf said. “Then we’re going to learn to identify turtle species you are most likely to see here in central PA, as well as talk about the current status of turtle populations and how we can help them.”
For those wishing to provide an assisting hand to a turtle they come across, Orndorf said a few of the very best things you can do are help keep waterways around you tidy and contamination totally free; never ever take a turtle out of the wild to keep as a family pet; and don’t launch family pet turtles into the wild as these types are not accustomed to residing in that environment.
“Be kind to turtles if you do see them out and about,” Orndorf said. “Don’t pick up turtles and transport them elsewhere, unless you are moving them off the road, and if this is the case, always move them in the direction they were heading.”
This will be the Towpath Naturalists’ last conference till September. The society invites visitors and brand-new members to participate in conferences.
For more details or to sign up with the Towpath Naturalists, please call (717) 248-0883. They are likewise working to produce a Facebook page.
