Tale of a Turtle
Pancake shape and tubular nose identify the Spiny Softshell Turtle.
It looked like a walking pancake that autumn morning, strolling down a quiet street in Dieppe, NB. The appearance was deceiving. It wasn’t breakfast at all, but a feisty reptile with a razor-sharp jaw.
It was a Spiny Softshell Turtle, a common species in the central and southern USA but classed as Threatened in Canada. This one had escaped from captivity. The finder brought it to a local veterinarian who sent it to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute.
What to do with it was a problem. AWI, we work with wildlife species that are native to Atlantic Canada. The nearest Spiny Softshells live hundreds of kilometres away, in southern Québec. We had no way of knowing whether it came from there, or what diseases it might be carrying. We could not responsibly release it where it might infect an already-threatened population.
With winter coming on and no place nearby where it could join others of its kind, we had to find a safe alternative. And that’s how the Magnetic Hill Zoo, in Moncton, New Brunswick, came to welcome its newest reptile resident.
Softshells can bite, so handle with care!
When handling a Spiny Softshell, wear heavy gloves and be on your guard. That neck can stretch and twist like a snake and the animal won’t hesitate to bite the hand that holds it.