Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins

Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins

Terrapin Crush prior to this turtle's release. 

NECWA was able to work with 2 Wareham Teachers this fall and winter as they participated in our Diamondback Terrapin Headstart program. One teacher, Lara Schofield, works at the high school and has previously participated in NECWA's head start program. The other teacher, Tanya Bungert, a middle school teacher, was new to the program this season. 

Over the course of the school year, NECWA staff joined teachers and their students on numerous occasions, providing on-site guidance for caring and documenting the hatchlings. On two occasions, NECWA came into the High School to work with and present lessons on terrapins to the afterschool program run by teacher Lara Schofield. Working directly with students and their teachers is so important for these types of community projects for it allows NECWA to see how successful our head start programs are.  

NECWA would like to thank the Wareham Cultural Council, a local agency of the Mass Cultural Council, for supporting this NECWA's head start program in both the middle school and high school during the 2023/2024 season. 

Here is an update from Lara Schofield, high school teacher at Wareham High School. 

Wareham High School teacher Lara Schofield:

"Three years ago, after a spring rain, a little baby terrapin hatchling washed in under the door of my classroom at Wareham High School. This little hatchling led to me contacting NECWA and learning about the Terrapin Headstart Program. 

Crush (on left) and little Spike (on right) sharing a tank.

For the past two years I have helped care for and raise a headstart hatchling over winter and then released it in spring. Over the 10 months in my care of the hatchling(s) was the educational spotlight for an after school class that I teach each year at Wareham High School. 

Wareham High School is an environmentally rich area for these beautiful threatened diamondback turtles. Last year, NECWA and I were able to successfully protect 7 nests which resulted in 35 hatchlings. Out of that total, 34 hatchlings were released back into the marsh behind the Wareham High School. 

The smallest hatchling became my headstart turtle for the 2023/2024 season and we called this baby Crush. My students and I raised Crush through the fall and winter of 2023 and into the spring of 2024. Crush was released this June back into the marsh near where NECWA found the original nest. 

Because of the success of these 7 protected nests, the Wareham Conservation Commission approved NECWA to work with the Wareham High School to create 4 turtle gardens. We were thrilled when Makepeace agreed to donate several truck loads of sand needed to fill all the gardens. NECWA staff and interns took the lead on the gardens and I was able to help with the digging, along with students from the afterschool program I teach. This afterschool program is focused on NECWA's rescue and research activities with Diamondback Terrapins at Wareham High School. 

MakePeace delivering sand for the turtle gardens.

As of this June, we have had several female terrapins nest in our new gardens. We have been able to protect these nests using chicken wire as self-releasers. Being a part of NECWA's wonderful Terrapin Headstart Program has been an amazingly enriching process that I have gained an immense amount of knowledge from. 

Crush and Spike on the day of their release!

Also this spring, my students found a very dehydrated terrapin hatching in the school parking lot. We decided to call this hatchling Spike and immediately contacted NECWA to inform them of this find. With NECWA's guidance, we were able to bring this cutie back to life. After a few weeks, we introduced Spike into Crush's tank and were thrilled when they got along nicely.

Spike when first found.

 Below is a photo of Spike and Crush when released this June back into the marsh around the Wareham High School. We decided to release them together since they had spent time in their aquarium tanks together. 

Spike and Crush being released back into the marsh. 

I am also including photos of the turtle garden construction. These gardens were a lot of work, but they provide additional nesting habitats for female terrapins. We were thrilled this summer when a number of adult female terrapins used them when constructing their nests!"

NECWA interns and Wareham High School students working on turtle gardens

Wareham High School students digging out the garden.

NECWA interns helping dig out gardens on high school property.

Wareham Middle School Teacher Tony Bungert:

Below is an update from Tanya Bungert, middle school teacher at Wareham Middle School. 

"Our Diamondback Terrapin story starts in Wareham, Massachusetts. This little guy weighing in at just 7.7 grams was shy at first and reluctant to eat. The 6th graders at Wareham Middle School were kind and took great care each day to make sure it felt safe. We soon adopted a name that fit according to one student “Look Bubbles is blowing bubbles”. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Our little fellow was no longer little.

One class a day called Science Exploration was responsible for the caretaking duties that allowed our Terrapin to flourish. Students completed the feedings, water changes, weights and measurements. They also learned about the Terrapin habitat and how to help save them. Each term a new group of students had the experience and knowledge of this species that is so important to the South Coast of Massachusetts. Bubbles final weight was at almost 300 grams. 

Saying goodbye was hard for them, but they know if they ever want to visit they just need to venture to the marshland and look back at all the great work that was done to help the population of this species rebound."