Here at New England Wildlife Center, we rehabilitate a lot of animals. Every year, we are able to successfully treat thousands of injured, sick and orphaned wildlife that make their way through our doors. Once healthy, we normally release them in the same area they are found. Over the weekend, one of our former volunteers was driving on the road, and witnessed a car swerve to try and intentionally hit a Eastern Painted Turtle on the side of the road. Sadly, this is all too common of an occurrence for those who don’t understand the value they bring to our local ecosystems. Our former volunteer, angry at what he witnessed, put the turtle first and pulled over to help. He collected the turtle and brought him into our Hospital, a validation of the compassion for all things, with which we try to instill in all those interested in learning with us. The surprising thing was… He wasn’t injured! The car must have just grazed his body, and popped him up and out of harms way. His shell was a bit scraped up.. but it protected him well. Dr. Mertz was the veterinarian on site who gave the turtle his initial examination. During the exam Dr. Mertz noticed the turtle was missing a leg, which we feared was from trauma due to the car hit. But no, it has healed nicely, and the turtle was doing very well without it. That isn’t something you’d normally see happen in the wild, and after thinking about it for a bit Dr. Mertz realized he had seen this turtle before. He and one of our interns, 4 years ago, had released a rehabbed 3-legged turtle into the same pond he was then found near. It was a very surprising realization, and Mertz was happy to see the turtle again, and unhurt. He was given a clean bill of health, some lettuce, and then was returned back to the pond. We wish him the best of luck, and hope he stays away from our Wildlife Center!
If you would like to learn more about New England Wildlife Center, please visit our website at www.newildlife.org