CLICK PICK: TurtleZone.org

The Berkshires’ slowest-moving residents might be the easiest to overlook, but with ten different native species—the majority of which are on the endangered species list—turtles of all shapes and sizes deserve a second glance. Whether it’s a Wood Turtle crossing a road in North Adams, Massachusetts, a Snapping Turtle basking in a pond at Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, or a tiny Painted Turtle at the Cheshire Reservoir, these slowpokes are present throughout the region and at risk all over. 

      In 2007, Berkshire resident Craig Chicoine decided to raise awareness about these nebbish neighbors by creating a website to track turtle and tortoise sightings and inform Berkshire residents about the endangered creatures. TurtleZone provides a map of sighting locales, news updates, and detailed information about the different species found throughout the area.

Links to other turtle- and conservation-oriented websites, along with tips on how to help save the reptiles (mainly from the threat of motor vehicles), provide some aid to the diminishing creatures, but Chicoine recruits the assistance of fellow Berkshirites to report sightings and help protect turtles near roadways so we may keep these slow species from disappearing altogether. (MAY 2009)

THE GOODS

TurtleZone
www.turtlezone.org