Turtles,wildlife find refuge in Riderwood community
Thursday, August 25, 2005
E-Mail This Article  Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by Christopher Anderson⁄The Gazette
Amy Stetson (right), a horticultural technician at Riderwood Village joined by residents and their grandchildren, watches a red ear slider turtle that was released Tuesday into a pond at the retirement community.
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‘‘No, we don’t want you to put your heads away,” she says.
Two red ear sliders retract their striped necks and then slowly inch them back out. These aquatic turtles were rescued from a construction site and brought to Riderwood, which is located in both Prince George's and Montgomery counties, to be released back into nature.
The female turtles found their way to Riderwood care of the Watkins Nature Center in Upper Marlboro. A resident, who wanted them to be saved from an area where they weren’t wanted, brought the turtles to the center, said Nicole Patterson, facility director.
The nature center has an indoor pond, but not enough room to take on more turtles, so the red ear sliders were brought to Riderwood, which has three ponds, a large campus and volunteers like Blackburn, who are willing to work to make sure their natural habitat is preserved.
Riderwood prides itself on a setting that is conducive to both senior living and wildlife. The ponds are maintained and stocked with fish, woodlands surrounding the campus are cleared of invasive species and habitats for animals are carefully constructed.
Blackburn, along with several other resident volunteers, work year-round to make the outdoors at their community wildlife friendly. The residents construct brush piles to serve as shelter, build bat houses and attract birds with seeds and homes.
The adoption of the rescued turtles is particularly satisfying to Blackburn because it means their efforts are succeeding.
Already this summer, Blackburn and some other residents released four baby red ear sliders into a pond at Riderwood.
‘‘I thought ‘will they ever see each other ever again,’” Blackburn said. She worried they might get lonely. But, the next day, she spotted three of the four sunning together on a floating island the residents had constructed specifically for turtles.
Now Blackburn is fascinated with turtles. She would like to learn more about how they communicate, she said. Blackburn, a former Silver Spring resident, moved into Riderwood a few years ago, and quickly became deeply involved with the community’s wildlife program. She now holds a wide array of knowledge on wildlife.
‘‘Opossums don’t actually hang by their tails,” she said. ‘‘Only the babies can do that. Once they’re grown, they’re too heavy. They use their tails for balance.”
Aside from turtles, Riderwood will become a home to rescued opossums this fall. The community has agreed to except rescued opossums from a wildlife rehabilitator in Takoma Park.
Rescued animals are only part of Riderwood’s efforts to make their grounds comfortable for wildlife.
The community volunteers carefully record the sightings of birds, mammals, fish and insects found on the campus, and work to make their habitat more sound. Residents have made bat and birdhouses and constructed feeders. They also have grown a butterfly garden, and carefully moved woodchucks from a site too close to gardens.
All the work led Blackburn to apply on behalf of the community for certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council. WHC helps landowners, particularly companies, manage their lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife.
WHC has never certified a senior living community before. If it does, Blackburn said it will be pure ‘‘satisfaction.”
‘‘We can be a little haven,” she said smiling at the turtles through the glass.
E-mail Meghan Mullan at mmullan@gazette.net.
