Pittsfield – Ten northern red-bellied cooters, an endangered species of turtle, raised at the Berkshire Museum over the winter will soon return to the wild. The Museum returned the turtles to the Mass Wildlife headquarters in Westborough today; they will be released into their natural habitat in the towns of Plymouth and Palmer over the next few weeks.
The turtles were brought to the Museum’s aquarium as hatchlings in October 2004 as part of a “Head Start†program in partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife. Interns from Miss Hall’s School aided Berkshire Museum aquarist Scott Jervas in caring for the hatchling turtles over the winter.
“By providing a warm, predator-free environment and a constant supply of food, we gives the hatchling red-bellied cooters a head start in life that is critical to the efforts to restore this endangered species,†said Jervas.
The northern red-bellied cooter (rubriventis bangsi) is found only in southeastern Massachusetts, mostly in Plymouth and Carver. The second largest freshwater turtle in the state, adult red-bellied turtles weigh as much as ten pounds. However, when they are newly hatched, the turtles weigh only five to eight grams and are only 1.25 inches long, making them easy prey for birds, fish, and bullfrogs. The young turtles sometimes freeze to death if an early fall keeps them in the nest and the winter is harsh.
At the Berkshire Museum, the hatchling turtles are weighed and measured weekly, and observed for signs of stress. They are kept in a 125-gallon stock tank at a temperature between 82 and 86 degrees farenheit. The cooters receive a constant—and large—supply of Romaine and red-leaf lettuce while in captivity.
Sophomores Cat Bunker, Beth Anne Degiorgis, and Kasey Cocivera of Miss Hall’s School were this year’s interns in the turtle program. The students work in the aquarium three hours each week throughout the school year, performing a variety of task. The turtle program is also highlighted in the Berkshire Museum’s many educational programs for a variety of age groups. A closed-circuit monitor allows visitors to the Aquarium to watch the red-bellied cooters in their temporary home. The weekly program for young children, “Aquarium Adventures,†features the turtles, as does the new “Junior Naturalists†program.
To preserve the red-bellied cooter population, the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Section started the head start program in 1985. Though still on the endangered species list, the population of red-bellied cooters has seen documented increases since the onset of the head start program. The Berkshire Museum was one of the first participants and has the highest success rate. Adult turtles raised as hatchlings at the museum have been located in the wild, and the aquarium has seen its second generation of cooters—caring for the young of a female who had overwintered at the Museum.
The Berkshire Museum is located at 39 South Street on Route 7 in Downtown Pittsfield. It is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays noon to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the Berkshire Museum at (413) 499-7171, or visit berkshiremuseum.org .
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MSBA: No Stearns in Proposed West Pittsfield School
During the School Building Needs Commission meeting on Monday, the owner's project managers, Skanska, reported that the Massachusetts School Building Authority would not fund a three-school project.
Stearns Elementary School had been included in the feasibility study to see if Crosby Elementary, Conte Community School, and Stearns Elementary could all be located at 517 West St. All three school locations listed in the feasibility study had to be considered; Conte has several site challenges.
Project designers TSKP reviewed 12 different school options, and it was relayed that only the rebuilds of Crosby and Conte could be fully funded. Pittsfield would have to pay for Stearns.
"I also think it's important to look at long-term and affordability, and if we choose to keep Stearns in, we're going to make the decision to keep PHS out," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.
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