DEC Bureau of Wildlife staff captured 26 female Blanding’s turtles and fit them with radio transmitters to determine where they are nesting in several large populations in St. Lawrence County.

Staff focused radio telemetry efforts on three locations where they had managed habitat, according to DEC press release.

Of seven egg-laden females located at one site, five were observed nesting south of the site’s boundary. Two of these turtles were moved into the managed nesting areas with the hope that they would nest there rather than leave the site and risk being hit by vehicles, DEC said.

Both turtles left the area and presumably nested on the site, but not in the created nesting areas.

DEC officials said it was difficult to determine where the nest locations were for the two individuals that were moved based on the GPS data.

Seven egg-laiden females were radio tagged at an additional site where habitat management is planned in the future. Staff located nests for all seven of these females.