Results of the Nest Protection Program for Blanding's Turtle in Kejimkujik National Park, Canada: 1987-1997

We studied the nesting ecology of Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) in Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada, from 1987 to 1997, as part of the Park's annual nest protection program. We identified 36 individual females nesting in this II-year period and recorded 124 nests of which we protected 101 with screened predator exclosures. Clutch size ranged from 4 to 16 and averaged 10.6 eggs (SD = 2.3, n = 91 nests). Nearly half(500f124; 40%) of the nests that we observed failed completely. Nest failure was due to depredation in 16 nests, vandalism in 1, flooding in 15, and other causes in 18. Predators destroyed only 1 protected nest. Over a third (39%) of 1054 eggs did not hatch. Of the 641 eggs that hatched, we confirmed that 310 hatchlings (48 % ) emerged from the nest, and we presume that another 129 (20%) emerged but were not observed because they escaped from beneath the protective screens. We excavated 17 5 live hatchlings and 27 dead hatchlings in the fall. Since we assumed that live excavated hatchlings would have perished in the nest during the winter because of ice and flooding of the nesting beaches, the total number of failed eggs (unhatched eggs plus live and dead excavated hatchlings) was 615 (58%). Cool temperatures, especially during emergence, are suspected of reducing emergence success.