Dr Joe with turtle

Be ready for a story of an endangered Kemp’s Ridley female sea turtle with a happy ending! 
Our head veterinarian, Dr. Joe Flanagan has been working to save sea turtles for many years now.  He is the main sea turtle vet in the area and knows no limits when it comes to helping the species.  Last Memorial Day, a large female endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was found by sea turtle beach patrol staff digging a nest in the sand on a Galveston beach.  The team immediately noticed that she had sustained severe injuries.  She had attempted to dig 3 nests, but had not dropped any eggs.  They rushed her to the Houston Zoo’s veterinary clinic for treatment and examination by Dr. Joe.
 
Upon arrival Dr. Joe was alarmed by the state of this female Sea turtle.  He has seen many injured and stranded sea turtles over the years and tries to remain optimistic for most of his cases, but Joe later admitted he was very doubtful this one would survive her injuries.  She had lost a lot of blood and her carapace or shell was severely damaged, it was clear she had been impacted by a boat propeller. 

Identification tags revealed that Joe had met this turtle before.  He discovered that he had released her as a baby turtle almost 20 years prior.  She was a Head-start (a process where individuals of a species are sheltered in captivity through the more vulnerable stages of development and then released where they were found) turtle released in1992.  This case quickly became very near and dear to his heart. 
After Joe had done everything he could for the turtle at the Zoo’s clinic she was transported to the sea turtle Barn in Galveston to recover.  She laid the eggs she had attempted to deposit on the Galveston beach.  Many of them were viable and sent to Padre Island to be incubated and hatched.  Her offspring were released later in the year. 
Joe visited her at the Galveston Turtle Barn many times throughout the year, delighted to see her respond to his many treatments.  The skin has healed nicely and although there is a potion of her carapace/shell missing, but it does not affect her ability to swim.  He was very excited to announce recently that she is fit to be released.  Almost a year from finding her severely damaged body on the beach she is ready to go back to the wild!

Nester

Identification tags revealed that Joe had met this turtle before.  He discovered that he had released her as a baby turtle almost 20 years prior.  She was a Head-start (a process where individuals of a species are sheltered in captivity through the more vulnerable stages of development and then released where they were found) turtle released in1992.  This case quickly became very near and dear to his heart. 
After Joe had done everything he could for the turtle at the Zoo’s clinic she was transported to the sea turtle Barn in Galveston to recover.  She laid the eggs she had attempted to deposit on the Galveston beach.  Many of them were viable and sent to Padre Island to be incubated and hatched.  Her offspring were released later in the year. 

Joe visited her at the Galveston Turtle Barn many times throughout the year, delighted to see her respond to his many treatments.  The skin has healed nicely and although there is a potion of her carapace/shell missing, but it does not affect her ability to swim.  He was very excited to announce recently that she is fit to be released.  Almost a year from finding her severely damaged body on the beach she is ready to go back to the wild!

Joe ultrasounding nester

Carolyn Jess is an 11 year old student who has agreed to be our special guest blogger about wildlife conservation. We first met Carolyn in October 2011 when she came out to the Zoo to meet our special guest Jack Hannah, who was visiting the Zoo to speak at our Conservation Gala. If you would like to contact Carolyn or have comments, you may send them to conservation@houstonzoo.org.

Texas Blind Salamander

The Texas blind salamander is a very interesting looking creature.  He is five inches long, is whitish-pink in color, and has two leaf like red gills behind where his ears should be to help get oxygen while in the water. The salamanders’ eyes are under the skin – you can faintly see black dots where the eyes should be.

I first learned about the Texas blind salamander by reading an article about it in the Texas Parks and Wildlifemagazine.  The picture of the salamander is what caught my attention!  He was so strange looking that I wanted to learn more about him.  I learned that the Texas blind salamander lives only in the water filled caves of the Edwards Aquifer near San Marcos, Texas.  He can’t see to eat so he moves his head from side to side to find shrimp, small snails, and other invertebrates (animals without backbones) at the bottom of the cave.  The salamander is endangered because the fresh water in the caves is being overused and polluted – and the recent drought does not help either.  The total adult population size is unknown but the species is believed to be rare with the need for continued monitoring

I wanted to help this animal.  I searched on the internet and found lots of information.  I clicked on different links and found out the same thing over and over – it is endangered.  Then I found something interesting:  there was research going on to help the blind salamander!!  Dr. Glenn Longley, director of Edwards Aquifer Research and Data Center at Texas State University was working on ways to protect this species.  Then an idea hit me like a bolt of lightning:  I needed to get the word out about the Texas Blind Salamander and collect some donations to help with the research!

 The real work was just beginning.  How would I go about collecting money?  I don’t get an allowance and I do jobs around my neighborhood, but that wouldn’t be enough.  After some thinking, I decided that I would use my next birthday party as a way for raising funds.  I would ask for money for the salamander instead of getting presents and I would teach everyone at my party about the salamander and what they could do to help.  I contacted Dr. Longley and he set up an account for my money at the research center.  My cause was put on the Edwards Aquifer website – which apparently A LOT of people in San Marcos read.  Soon, money was coming to me from all over the state of Texas!  My city’s newspaper did an article on me and then even more money came in.

 I sent informational flyers in my birthday invitations and asked my guest for money for the salamander instead of gifts. At my party, I talked to my friends about what they could do to help the Texas Blind Salamander.  Overall, I collected $600 for the research of the salamander and to help educate the public about ways they could help.

The future of the Texas Blind Salamander is still unclear.  If we conserve our water and help prevent water pollution, the salamander has a fighting chance.  Here are some things you can do to help this interesting creature:

1. Fix any leaky faucet in your home.
2. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth!
3. If you must water your lawn, do it either early in the morning or at dusk.  That way the water isn’t being evaporated by the sun.
4. Install faucets or appliances that use less water.
5. Prevent water pollution – recycle and put your trash where it belongs!

For more information about the Texas Blind Salamander, you can read Ray Dixon’s book, Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas (W.L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series).  It has some great information for you!

As most people in Texas know, early September 2011 brought a devastating wildfire to the Bastrop state Park.  A few park structures built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930′s were damaged, thousands of trees burned along with acres and acres of underbrush. An endangered species resident of the Park became even more endangered: The Houston Toad. 

From December 2011 thru February 2012, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department led six volunteer work parties to restore the banks around the known Houston toad ponds in Bastrop State Park.  Though people were hoping the toads made it okay, surveys of the area have resulted in no Houston Toad calls being heard at some of the ponds. 

Friday, January 27, I drove up to Bastrop State Park from Houston and set up camp in the Deer Run campground for a two-night stay.  A few weeks prior, I had signed up for the January 28 volunteer work party.

Saturday morning, at 8:30am, I and 62 other volunteers gathered at The Refectory, checked in, received our hard hats and instructions from TPWD Park Interpreter/Volunteer Coordinator Katie Raney.  She, her team of TPWD staffers, and the 63 volunteers were going to caravan out to pond #2 to put down mulch along the pond and drainage banks. 

The ground cover had been burned off leaving nothing in the way of cover for any Houston Toads who may emerge from their underground burrows to call to females or hear and respond to male calls.  Providing 50% coverage of mulch provides some camouflage for the toads while they are on the surface and provides something they can hide under to avoid predators. The mulch is also important for promoting plant growth and helping to attract insects…just what the toads need.  

We arrived at and parked on the shoulder of the roadway near some big piles of mulch–about 10 or 20 cubic yards or more.  Katie walked us out to the pond about 200-300 yards from the road and showed us what she wanted in the way of mulch coverage.  Six of us stayed at the pond as the rest of the group strung themselves along the route back to the road. 

Volunteers began shoveling mulch into the tall, orange,  Home Depot buckets.  The buckets were passed from person to person down to the pond area where six of us took the incoming buckets as they arrived and shook out mulch between the high-water mark and the tree line. 

As we worked our way towards the road, the line got more compressed and became more like an actual bucket brigade where a bucket (or buckets) was passed hand-to-hand without any steps being taken by the passers. 

Once the mulch distributors reached the road, Katie declared it was time for a lunch break.  We had mulched the north side of the pond and the north bank of the pond drainage to the roadway. 

After lunch, as we again formed a bucket brigade line to feed the mulch distributors, I opted to be part of the line. 

Apparently, we were either so fired up from lunch or we had all gotten much better at passing buckets because we finished mulching the south side of the pond and its drainage banks in half the time it took us to do the north bank in the morning.  Once we put our equipment away–shovels, rakes, buckets, hard hats, etc–Katie thanked us and everyone left for home. 

Early Saturday morning, February 11, I drove up to Bastrop State Park to again participate in the last volunteer work party of the season–it is close to toad breeding season and Park staff don’t want to disrupt the toads’ activities.

This time, we went to toad pond #8, a pond which toad specialists had heard Houston toads calling earlier in the week.  Just like the work party a couple of weeks ago, we set up a bucket-brigade line between the mulch pile and the pond, and a mulch distribution team at the pond.  The first buckets started down the line about 10:00am.

Unknown to us down at the pond or along much of the bucket-brigade line, there was some unexpected excitement at the mulch pile: Someone uncovered a coral snake that had been hunkered down in the pile, likely staying warm during the 30-degree temperatures that night and morning. A TPWD staffer was posted to guard the snake from curious volunteers who wanted to look at it. 

By about noon, we finished putting down a 50%-coverage of mulch on the banks of the pond. Katie declared our work complete and led us through the Park back to our cars.

Dale Martin is a wonderful long time devoted volunteer at the Houston Zoo.  He assists our staff photographer and the web team.  

If you want to hear more about how the Houston Toads are doing after the Bastrop fires join us at the Zoo for our Wildlife Speaker Series  event on Friday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.  Get up close and personal with a live Houston Toad and get an update on the wild Toads from our Amphibian Conservation Manager, Paul Crump.  Dr. Michael Lannoo of Indiana University School of Medicine will give a presentation titled: A Window into the Global Amphibian Crisis: Discovering the Biology of North America’s Most Secretive Frog, the Crawfish frog, as it Approaches Extinction.  Buy your tickets HERE.

You can make your own seedballs for native wild flowers and grasses by watching the following video at the Coastal Prairie Partnership website.

These native grasses provide habitat for a variety of insects which is what the toad needs to survive. Also, when hopping out of the pond, small and fragile baby toads also need grasses to hide in to stay safe from predators and to keep from drying out in the hot sun.

Hunter and Chloe came to the Zoo last Friday to drop off their seed balls and we will be delivering them to the landowners we work with in Austin County.

Please give a big thank you so these thoughtful students for helping their native and endangered wildlife! We are so proud of our young Zoo patrons and conservation ambassadors!

Hunter and Chloe- Conservation Champions!

The juvenille Green sea turtle had been accidentally hooked by fisherman while they were fishing out in Texas City. The fisherman were very concerned and called the local game warden to come help the turtle. All injured or sick sea turtles are then handed over to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) sea turtle biologists.  Much of the time, these sea turtles will come to the Houston Zoo to undergo diagnoses, surgery and/or treatment.

Dr Joe examines hook in sea turtle's throat

Removal of hook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long, delicate process, the hook is finally removed.

 

Hook that was removed from the sea turtle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Sea turtle biologist and NOAA employee Lyndsey Howell will now take the sea turtle back to the Sea Turtle Barn in Galveston to let the little guy recuperate. He will then be released back into the wild. 

 

Lyndsey and Green Sea Turtle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are on the Upper Texas Coast and hook a sea turtle fishing or see a sea turtle that is in distress please call 1866TURTLE5!  To learn more about sea turtle conservation at the Houston Zoo visit our sea turtle page.

 

 

 

BUILDING PRAIRIES FROM YOUR BACKYARD TO THE BACK 40

NOVEMBER 18-19 IN HOUSTON

Coastal Prairie Partnership and Native Prairie Association of Texas are proud to announce the 3rd Annual State of the Prairie Conference to be held in Houston, TX from Nov. 18-19 at the Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center, followed by field trips to prairie remnants all over Houston. Each year this event attracts the sharpest minds in prairie conservation from Texas, Louisiana, and the Midwest to spark lively conversations and provide practical, real-world solutions to restore, conserve, and educate about local prairies for multiple uses.

We’ll have presentations and field experiences that focus on prairies and cattle production, landscaping with prairie natives, ecotourism, biodiversity, prairie wetlands and more. So if you are a rancher, conservationist, landscape architect, educator, naturalist, or just curious about building build prairies in rural or urban areas, this event is for you!

What: 3rd Annual State of the Prairie Conference

When: November 18-19, 2011

Where: Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center – November 18. Various locations around Houston – November 19.

How Much: $50 for indoor session at Houston Zoo (student rate available) on November 18 and $10 – $25 for November 19 Field Experiences.

Registration: Full details and registration available at www.coastalprairie.org

Due to extreme droughts in 2011 we were unable to head start Houston toad eggs from the wild so efforts are now underway to breed them in captivity. Headstarting is a process by which we remove eggs from the wild, raise the tadpoles at the Zoo, and then release them back at the pond. Because there has not been enough rain, the wild Houston toads have not been able to emerge and migrate to breed and lay eggs.

The Houston toad was the first amphibian ever placed on the endangered species list and is one of our most endangered animals in Texas! Current estimates are that only 200-300 adults may remain in the wild.

We have a captive assurance colony of Houston toads at the Zoo to keep the species from going extinct if conditions get even worse in the wild and efforts to breed these animals started in July.

From a breeding event on July 19th we now have two little captive bred Houston toads that have gone through the tadpole stage in just under three weeks and have popped out all of their legs, developed lungs, and have crawled out of the water.

Their names are Ignacio and Santiago…affectionately so by thier keeper, Aleyda.

Please give the Houston toad and Veterinary Team some congrats on their big success! Hopefully more good news to come as breeding attempts started again this week and we have more eggs! Stay tuned….

Ignacio the tadpoleSantiago the tadpole

Ignacio the tadpole!

Santiago the toadlet!

Ignacio the toadlet! Still has some tail!

 

 

 

 

 

Janet Denton is one such fabulous Houstonian who attended our Texas Amphibian Workshop back in May and now has become quite familiar with some of the little Coastal Plains Toads calling her backyard their home. These fantastic toads can live in Janets back yard for up to 10 years gobbling up mosquitos and other pesky insects. Go Janet Dentons toads! Do your thing toads!

Janet found that she also has several little toad tadpoles in her small,  man made pond in her back yard, so she has put in a ramp so that the little toads can hop out of the pond once they go through metamophosis. She has also offered them a nutritious and organic collared green leaf which is full of vitamins and nutrients for the little growing polliwogs. One of her little tadpoles has already come out of the water- SEE PHOTO BELOW! Did you know that tadpoles are vegetarians and adult toads are carnivores? They make the switch once they develop their lungs, grow their legs, and pop out of the water.

Here are some photos below of Janet Dentons backyard toads and tadpoles.

Do you have stories of your backyard creatures that you can share?

Toad Que sat on the wheel of our BBQ for three straight nights!

Hopps is one of my favorites. Very brave, not scared of me or the dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piper likes to hang out in the overflow pipe to the pond and watch the world go by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see a few tadpoles enjoying their collard green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so excited to announce the sighting of my first toadlet! He (she?) was hopping across the patio at about 8:00 this morning!

 

Kemp's Ridley

The incredible work Dr. Joe Flanagan and our clinic staff do for endangered stranded and injured Sea turtles from the upper Texas coast often goes un-noticed due to the fact that it goes on behind the scenes here at the Houston zoo.  But make no mistake, the clinic staff are Sea turtle rescue heroes!  Often Dr. Joe gets a call in the morning and injured Sea turtles arrive an hour or so later.  The clinic staff always make time for these paitents that are often in need of immediate attention. 

Last Friday morning Dr. Joe had several turtles come in for radio-graphs and evaluation.  One Loggerhead Sea turtle had a boat propeller injury, another was most likely a shark attack victim, and there were a few pre-release check-ups. 

Dr. Joe Fanagan examining an injured Sea turtle

In 2010, Dr. Joe Flanagan and his staff treated over 44 sea turtles.   There were 44 radio-graphs done, which included  16 Kemp’s ridleys, 7 Greens, 20 Loggerheads, and 1 Hawksbill.  There was blood work done on 40 animals including 14 Kemp’s ridleys, 8 Greens, 14 Loggerheads, and 2 Hawksbills.

So far in 2011, they have treated over 30 animals.  There were 30 radiographs done on 9 Kemps ridleys, 9 Greens, 6 loggerheads, and 6 Hawksbills.  Blood work was done on 27 animals including 10 Kemp’s ridleys, 8 Greens, 4 Loggerheads, and 5 Hawksbills.

Dr. Joe also makes site visits to NOAA Fisheries Service Galveston Laboratory, which is the federal sea turtle research facility, commonly referred to as “The Turtle Barn.” This laboratory is known worldwide for the captive-rearing of endangered sea turtles.  He visits frequently to monitor the progress of injured Sea turtles, perform ultrasounds, and other diagnostic procedures. 

The Sea turtle expertise here at the Houston zoo is greatly appreciated by the Sea turtle rescue community.  Enjoy this short clip to see some of the rehabilitation efforts in action!