Bog turtles used to be abundant throughout New Jersey. Now they are found in the rural areas of Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, and Salem counties. These tiny, palm-sized turtles like to live in wet meadows and mucky, saturated bogs. Most of their lives are spent in the cool muck, which helps keep them cool in summer and allows them a safe place to hibernate during the winter.
Learn more about bog turtles:
- Bog turtles have a shell length between three and four inches at adulthood. These rare turtles are prized by collectors, but it is a violation of state and federal laws to catch, sell, or trade bog turtles. If you find a bog turtle, don’t keep it as a pet — it’s against the law.
- Bog turtles can live for twenty years or more. Some live up to thirty years!
- Bog turtles eat plants, insects, and dead animals, but like slugs the best.
Why are these turtles endangered? Intense land use for agriculture and industry drove the turtles out of former habitats throughout New Jersey. Wetland alterations and storm water outputs made many areas uninhabitable for the little turtles. The bog turtle has been listed as endangered in New Jersey since 1974 and threatened across the country in 1997.
Turtle preservation efforts include:
- Teaching private landowners about bog turtles and their habitats. NJ State biologists visit properties with landowners and talk about wildlife and conservation.
- The state is working to acquire wetlands that are on properties that may be developed. So far, six sites have been acquired and others are in negotiation.
- Computer mapping is helping to identify critical turtle habitats and guide regulations for land preservation, water protection, and land development.
- Managing bog turtle habitats to deal with invasive vegetation that could fill in the wetlands. One program leases livestock from local farmers to graze vegetation and prevent turtle habitat destruction. Another program uses beetles to control invasive vegetation.
Want to help? Join the New Jersey Wildlife Conservation Corps and help manage the state’s natural resources. You can also choose a “conserve wildlife” license plate for your car — eighty percent of the cost is donated to the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program.
If you see a bog turtle crossing the road, you may want to stop and help them. Pick the turtle up and carry it across the road in the direction that it was heading. Place the turtle down a safe distance from the roadside! You can also report any sightings of bog turtles to the state Endangered and Nongame Species Program.