TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – More than a dozen baby snapping turtles were found during routine garden work at a local hospice facility. And people at Hospice of Northwest Ohio are welcoming them to stay. <\/p>\n
Snapping turtles will leave water to lay and bury their eggs and two to five months later, baby snapping turtles will appear to make their way to water. <\/p>\n
Just as more than a dozen hatchlings tried to do at the Edward and Marion Knight Hospice Center, before getting a little bit of help. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe snapping turtle was a first; we have a lot of wildlife here, though,\u201d Kimberly Ledesma, the director of facilities and administrative support, said. <\/p>\n
They are no stranger to wildlife, from birds to deer to frogs, but the recent discovery caught them by surprise. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had discovered some snapping turtles being born on our facility by one of our ponds,\u201d Ledesma said. <\/p>\n
It was 19 hatchlings in all. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby snapping turtles, they could fit in the palm of my hand,\u201d Ledesma said. <\/p>\n
They were found in a garden bed near a feature fountain. <\/p>\n
\u201cUpon discovery, our gardener reached out to me, because she was watering our plants and she called for me to help her with it because they were getting to an unsafe water source, our fountain here has chemical treatment,\u201d Ledesma said. <\/p>\n
After putting on some gloves and grabbing a bucket, the team relocated the 19 hatchlings to a safer body of water on their property.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we tilted the bucket and they saw the water, they honestly just dive right in, so they were very excited to have their new space,\u201d Ledesma<\/p>\n
Dr. Matt Cross is the Director of Vertebrate Conservation at the Toledo Zoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cSnapping turtles are probably our more common species of turtles,\u201d Dr. Cross said. <\/p>\n
Cross added, there are likely many living here in Northwest Ohio in different bodies of water.<\/p>\n
\u201cSnapping turtles, they\u2019re big, and they just have this prehistoric look to them that\u2019s really just kind of cool to be able to see like a living dinosaur on the landscape,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Dr. Cross said if you find yourself in a similar situation, the best thing is to let the turtles be if they\u2019re not in a dangerous situation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can escort them to the wetland and you\u2019re comfortable doing so, that\u2019s a you know a huge step in that turtle\u2019s life and just even making it to the place where they\u2019re nice and secure,\u201d Cross said. <\/p>\n
The turtles now have a welcome home at Hospice of Northwest Ohio. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe always try to do the best that we can to protect the wildlife on our property, it\u2019s just something that we like to make sure that patients and staff can enjoy while here,\u201d Ledesma said. <\/p>\n
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