Update: Turtle Relocation Plan, Missouri City, Texas

[Guest guest]

Posted for Penny Barrett Hornsby:

 

REPLY TO/CONTACT: " Penny Barrett Hornsby " <pbh4935

 

Hello everyone. I just wanted to thank all of you not just for your

offers of help but for broadcasting the message to others. I have

received a great deal of interest as well as suggestions.

 

This morning, thanks to Patrick Winkler who saw the message on the

bulletin board at vegan meetup, we were able to make 16 large traps. I

will be going on Monday morning to bait them and place them

strategically in the eastern portion of the site as this is the area

that is being built up. We surveyed on Thursday and decided that

placing the traps and checking them often throughout the day would be

the most effective way of getting as many turtles out as possible. We

are moving them to waterways that are on the other side of the fence

so that we have a convenient drop off area but the possibility of

their return is diminished.

 

If you put " willowisp golf course, missouri city, texas " into google

maps and hit the satelite button, you will get an idea of how much

water there is on this site. You can also see that there are water

ways on two sides - the east and the south. These are the relocation

areas. I will be able to give a lot more information including more

details for individuals to help once I have placed the traps and

checked on them.

 

There are people out there with a lot more experience with this sort

of thing than me so if you have suggestions, ideas or anything you

think might be helpful, please do not hesitate to email.

 

Again, thank you so much for your help with this. I feel so blessed to

be surrounded by people who care so much.

Penny

 

 

 

,

>

> Penny Barrett Hornsby <pbh4935 wrote:

> Thanks, Kerri

>

> I work for the City of Missouri City. I found out yesterday that

the developer/contractor who is converting the Willowisp Golf Course

into a business park will be draining and filling in many of the

site's 14 lakes. No plan had been made to relocate the hundreds of

turtles and fish from these lakes; which would mean that the

contractor will be backfilling over the fish and turtles, burying them

alive.

>

> I am heading up an effort to relocate the turtles. I have been given

2 weeks.

>

>

> I will need help with making the traps - which would entail making a

tube of of chicken wire, closing off one end and turning in the other

end so that once they are in, they cannot get out. I will be able to

guide anyone that needs assistance with this task.

>

>

> I will need as many volunteers as possible for the scheduled move

dates (TBD).

>

> I will be surveying the site today to see what it will take to get

as many out as possible. Once I have established all of the details, I

will have several move dates (possibly relocating a small group each

day and then having two big move days on the weekends).

>

> If anyone knows of any group or organization that that specializes

in this sort of thing, knows a volunteer group that might be

interested, or can volunteer time for the relocation, I would greatly

appreciate it. The more volunteers we have, the more turtles we can save.

>

> Also, I am not equipped to do anything about the fish. Please feel

free to offer suggestions or to direct me to someone that might be

able to help.

>

> Thank you.

>