The Canadian Field-Naturalist

Two albino Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) hatchlings from Ontario

2026-01-27T20:49:22+00:00

Albinism in turtles is rare but has been reported in more than a dozen species. We observed two albino Blanding’s Turtle
(Emydoidea blandingii) hatchlings from one nest collected and incubated as part of a turtle conservation program in eastern Ontario. The albino hatchlings were the same size (3.4 cm straight-line carapace length) as the other two hatchlings from the nest and only slightly smaller than the average length of Blanding’s Turtles (3.6 cm) produced from our nests in 2025. Only one of 132 (0.76%) successfully incubated Blanding’s Turtle nests over the past eight years has produced albinos. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of albinism in Blanding’s Turtles.

The recent spread of Coyote (Canis latrans) in the northwest Canadian Arctic

2025-10-20T22:17:41+00:00

We report recent and historical sightings and harvest of Coyote (Canis latrans) in the northwest mainland Canadian Arctic.
Historical sightings of Coyotes extend north of the Arctic Circle in Canada and Alaska; however, sightings are extremely
rare and sporadic at the northern end of this range. Between 2018 and 2025, 15 sightings were recorded by camera traps in the northern Richardson Mountains, Northwest Territories (NWT), and two animals were harvested in 2019 and 2020 within 6 km of our study site. Between 2018 and 2025, at least three Coyotes were present in our study area, the first records there in more than 45 years. We discuss these recent events in the context of Coyote ecology and historical and recent expansion in the NWT and Yukon.

Predator community and human recreation at a Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) nesting site

2025-06-19T12:30:38+00:00

Many freshwater turtle populations experience high nest depredation, resulting in low recruitment, and are subject to high
levels of human disturbance, which can influence behaviour. Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) is a declining freshwater species and little is known about potential nest predators and human recreation pressures at nest sites. In 2021 and 2022, we identified 18 Spotted Turtle nests at a powerline right-of-way in Bristol County, Massachusetts, and monitored them with camera traps until hatchlings emerged. We identified all potential predator species and human recreation activities detected in images. We assessed predator behaviour using a behaviour ratio that we calculated as the quotient of number of predator “investigating nests” events and total events for each predator species pooled among all nests. We compared behaviour ratios among species. We characterized all human recreation activities at each nest and calculated diversity and the number of events for each recreation type. We detected six potential predator species and five types of human recreation activities at nest sites. Coyote (Canis latrans) was the most frequently detected potential predator but had a very low behaviour ratio (0.03). Raccoon (Procyon lotor) had the highest behaviour ratio (0.39) and was significantly more likely to investigate nests than other potential predators. Raccoon nest investigation rates did not vary by macrohabitat type or distance to edge. Our study reveals a broad look into the potential predators of Spotted Turtle nests, documents human recreation occurring at nest sites, and has several implications for nest site management.