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allowing the turtles to remain in the trap. Before the traps are placed in the water, baiting is
necessary. Baiting the trap with two cans of sardines (in oil) had the highest success rate. One
can was emptied in a mesh bag, with another can that was cracked open. Secure the mesh bag
near the back of the trap; this forces the turtles to swim completely into the trap, trapping them.

When the traps are in the water, leave a side of the trap open to air, allowing the trapped
turtles room to breathe. After the trap is secured, tie down the rope that’s attached to the closed
end of the trap and pull it tight. This allows the opening of the trap to be tight and lowers the
rates of any turtle being able to escape.Check the hoop traps every two days to collect the
trapped turtles and gather data of each species and mark them.

To determine the best time for trapping, you need to consider several things. Turtles
enjoy basking in the sun; therefore they are more likely to be active when it’s sunny. Turtles are
also more active in the morning versus in the evening because they are scavenging for food. Also
take into account the placement of the traps. Try not to place the traps so close together; space
them out. This increases the distance you are trapping, which increases the success rate of
catching turtles.

Data Collection

Once a turtle is trapped, several things need to be collected. First weigh the turtle, and
measure the plastron and carapace. The plastron is the ventral part of the shell and the carapace is
the dorsal part of the shell. After weighing the turtle and measuring the plastron and carapace,
proceed to marking the turtles. There are different ways of marking the carapaces of the turtles.
At MGA, we have painted numbers on them with dive pins, finger nail polish, and even filed into
the edges of the carapace using a triangular file. Using the triangular file marking technique was
the most successful since it takes a longer period of time for the shell to outgrow the markings,
compared to the dive pin and finger nail polish. Those two wore off over a short period of time.

Conclusion

Field research doesn’t always yield results; it has its good and bad days. Sometimes you
catch twenty turtles, whereas the next day you catch none. Field research relies on the weather;
we had a higher rate of success on days where it was warm and sunny outside. Using sardines in
oil rather than sardines in water increases the likelihood of catching more turtles. The sardines in
oil allow the smell to linger around longer since water and oil do not mix well with each other.
The oil allows for the smell to travel over a larger distance attracting more turtles to the trap. The
pond that had less manipulation yielded more turtles compared to the pond that had a higher