Turtle Protectors

Turtle Protectors is an important and rewarding full time job without the salary. Being volunteer-led means we need to find ways to financially support ourselves. Co-founder, Carolynne, is having a yard sale tomorrow. Stop by just to say hi or support by making a purchase. Miigwetch!

These hatchlings are so brave. They have just emerged from their underground nest (mom laid her eggs on June 10 - see picture two) and are walking into a quiet marsh on the Humber.

Learn more about turtles, their lifecycles, the threats they face, our work and how you can help by coming to one of our upcoming free wetland walks.

Humber Bay Park East Park
Thursday September 24, 6 to 7 pm
Meet in Humber Bay East Parking Lot at the start of the boardwalk

Don Valley Brick Works Park
Saturday September 26, 2 to 3 pm
Meet in front of the first big pond

Biidaasige Park
Saturday September 26, 3 to 4:30 pm
Meet in front of the Fire Hall

High Park (National Truth and Reconciliation Walk)
Wednesday September 30, 6 to 7 pm
Meet in front of the Grenadier Cafe

All walks are family friendly and accessible (walks will be on hardened paths).

Miigwetch to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation for supporting our free Wetland Walks.

Walk with Grassy Narrows youth and community members to show that we are with them on their path to achieve mercury justice and freedom!

Turtle Protectors will be there!!!

This is a family-friendly event. Rain or shine!

For more information please visit freegrassy.net

We try really hard to protect all turtle mamas and nests during nesting season (late May to mid-July), but naturally, we miss some! During hatchling season (late August to October) we find hatchlings from nests we didn't know about. If we're lucky, we find the emergence hole as we did at Etienne Brule Park and King's Mill last week. Finding the nest site is helpful because mamas typically return to the same spot year after year. This is called site fidelity. So next year we'll keep a close eye on these new nest sites, looking for mom to return.

Today we found 33 hatchlings at Humber Bay Park but not the actual nest site. We didn't want to risk stepping on hatchlings while looking for the emergence hole in the thick vegetation.

We also had our first hatchlings of the year at Woodbine Park! City staff helped find some in the grass!!!

If you're in a Toronto Park, please look down for hatchlings. If you see one, please call us at 647-491-4057 - we'll send volunteers to look for more because there is rarely just one!

Miigwetch to all of our volunteers who have collectively donated over 12,000 hours of their time to support turtles who call Toronto home!!!

We released our first hatchlings in Biidaasige Park yesterday! These tiny Snapping Turtles were sent off in such a good way. Don't Mess with the Don lent us boats so that we could get these little ones to spots along the river with good reeds for hiding and in spots where there are typically fewer predators.

The paddles were perfect for getting the hatchlings deeper in the reeds and allowed them to enter the water when they were ready. We call this "turtle time"

This was such a special release.

Miigwetch to Lawrence, co-founder and president of Don't Mess with the Don for meeting us in the park, lending us boats and joining us in the release.

And chi miigwetch to our committed volunteers in Biidaasige Park. And to Nova and Derek for sharing their photos.

No one knows exactly how long turtle eggs can survive underwater. It's definitely more than minutes but how many hours is unknown. Don Valley Brick Works Park is underwater when the water levels go above HHA (see photo 1).

After the flood of 2024, we were able to excavate over 120 eggs from nests that were underwater for 1 to 2 hours. Over 90 of them hatched!

Typically, after a flooding event, once water has receded, we dig a test hole outside of the nest protectors to see if the cavity fills up with water. If it does, we know the ground is supersaturated, meaning the eggs can't breathe, so we excavate the nest and transport eggs to Toronto Wildlife Centre.

We are hoping that the eggs and hatchlings are ok and sending our best to all of the beings who call Brick Works home, including the hatchlings we released on Friday.

It is peak hatchling season in Toronto! Hatchlings have been found in Smythe, Rennie, Don Valley Brick Works, King's Mill and High Park. This season we have released over 900 hatchlings so far!

Volunteers patrol local parks and check nests 2 to 4 times per day. If they are lucky, they will peer inside the protector and find a tiny face staring back!

In the second photo, you can see a turtle emerging from the nest cavity. This is the first time they have felt sun, wind or rain. It is truly magical. We greet them by saying, "Aaniin Boozhoo!".

Then we take off the protector and check for their siblings. In the third photo, you can see the emergence hole and some of the hatchlings who emerged from it.

Volunteers place hatchlings in containers and bring them to the closest water and release them near the edge where they walk in on their own when they are ready. This can take seconds or an hour. During releases, we say that we are on turtle time!!!

Note: hatchlings have been moving to water since the beginning of time - they know what to do. We only give them a helping hand so they don't get crushed by cars and feet or get trapped in non-native vegetation.

Once they make it to water, we say "Baamaapii!"

Miigwetch to Rohith, Pixie and Ari for sharing your photos!

This year, we are using canoes to transport hatchlings that emerge from nests on the shores of the Humber River to suitable habitat. You see, the shorelines along Home Smith, Etienne Brule and King's Mill parks have very few reeds along their edges. When you're a baby turtle the size of a loonie or toonie, having slow-moving water and good places to hide from predators (herons, egrets, bullfrogs, big fish, snapping turtles) are critical!

Very few hatchlings reach adulthood (according to Parks Canada, "only 1 in 1400 hatchlings will survive to adulthood"), so we want to give them the best chance - the canoes make this possible!

We are so grateful to Toronto Adventures for lending us canoes for the releases. You demonstrate that there are so many ways to contribute to turtle conservation!

Miigwetch to Megan, Marni and Alex for sharing your photos.

There are 74 empty Snapping Turtle egg shells in these bags. They all come from ONE mighty mama who nested next to a road in Humber Bay Park in June.

Volunteers used rocks and bricks in attempt to level the nest protector and keep predators at bay but ulimately the nest was deemed to be at risk so a Permit Holder excavated the nest.

The eggs were incubated at Scales Nature Park as part of their S.T.A.R.T. Program (Saving Turtles At Risk Today). They hatched and 74 hatchlings were released back in Humber Bay on Monday!

One of turtles’ roles is to transfer energy from the aquatic world to the terrestrial world. Scales honours this by sending the eggshells back with each clutch of hatchlings. After we release the hatchlings we spread the eggshells on the land to honour one of turtles’ original instructions.

Miigwetch to Scales Nature Park for training some of our volunteers to be permit holders and for incubating the eggs. Miigwetch to the Grant, Anna and Irene who spent hours ensuring mama could nest undisturbed and to Leah for excavating the eggs so lovingly and releasing the hatchlings with the same love.

First hatchlings of the year emerged from their underground nests in High Park!!! 44 Snapping Turtle hatchlings and 1 Midland Painted Turtle hatchling.

Hatchlings have been moving from their nests to water since the begiining of time. They know what to do. We only bring them close to water to ensure they don't get crushed by feet, cars or bikes, and to prevent them from getting stuck in cracks between the giant boulders used to prevent erosion in city parks.

Please stop and check for hatchlings in the nest protectors in your local park. If you see hatchlings, call us at 647-491-4057.

Miigwetch to Minnow Magazine and Tina for sharing your photos.