Professor Blue

I’m re-posting this so that it stands out on its own.  The Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion in Con­necti­cut is hav­ing an art con­test for kids!  You don’t even have to live in Con­necti­cut to enter the contest!

All chil­dren from kinder­garten through fifth grade are eli­gi­ble to enter an orig­i­nal draw­ing, paint­ing, or sketch of a tur­tle native to Connecticut.

• Entries will be judged in three cat­e­gories: K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade.
• Prizes will be awarded in each cat­e­gory for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and hon­or­able mention.
• All entries will be dis­played at the Ses­sions Woods Con­ser­va­tion Edu­ca­tion Cen­ter, in Burling­ton, for Year of the Tur­tle Day, sched­uled for June 26, 2011, from 1:00–4:00 PM.
• Full details and entry infor­ma­tion are avail­able on the offi­cial entry form (PDF) or by call­ing the Wildlife Divi­sion at 860–675-8130 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM).

More info here:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=473472&depNav_GID=1655

This dia­mond­back ter­rapin is a native Con­necti­cut resident

What do we know about tur­tles?  Hard shell to pro­tect the body.  Check.  Four legs that don’t move so fast.  Check.  Able to retreat into the shell for pro­tec­tion from out­side forces that wish to do it hard.  Check.  Un-check?

Well, PARC — Part­ners in Amphib­ian and Rep­tile Con­ser­va­tion  – has called this year – 2011 — the Year of the Tur­tle because they would like peo­ple to pay close atten­tion to tur­tles.  Why?   They “…are dis­ap­pear­ing from the planet faster than any other group of ani­mal. Today, nearly 50% of tur­tle species are iden­ti­fied as threat­ened with extinction. “

Their hard shells can­not pro­tect them from loss of their habi­tats, inva­sive dis­eases, cars run­ning them over, peo­ple tak­ing them as pets, and so much more.

There are things we can do to slow down the loss of the tur­tle pop­u­la­tion like not tak­ing tur­tles out in the wild as pets, and not destroy­ing their nests.

We have to not behave like a tur­tle to help pro­tect the turtle!

Read more here: http://parcplace.org/news-a-events/year-of-the-turtle.html

Also the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion in Con­necti­cut is hav­ing an art con­test for kids.  You don’t even have to live in Con­necti­cut to enter the contest!

All chil­dren from kinder­garten through fifth grade are eli­gi­ble to enter an orig­i­nal draw­ing, paint­ing, or sketch of a tur­tle native to Connecticut.

• Entries will be judged in three cat­e­gories: K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade, and 4th-5th grade.
• Prizes will be awarded in each cat­e­gory for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and hon­or­able mention.
• All entries will be dis­played at the Ses­sions Woods Con­ser­va­tion Edu­ca­tion Cen­ter, in Burling­ton, for Year of the Tur­tle Day, sched­uled for June 26, 2011, from 1:00–4:00 PM.
• Full details and entry infor­ma­tion are avail­able on the offi­cial entry form (PDF) or by call­ing the Wildlife Divi­sion at 860–675-8130 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM).

More info here:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=473472&depNav_GID=1655