Susan P. Barnes with Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife will discuss the history of turtles in the Tualatin and the efforts being made today to monitor and restore their populations.  There are only two turtles native to Oregon. Learn more:

Tualatin Heritage Center / September 6th at 1pm

State wildlife officials are on the hunt for invasive snapping turtles.

These prehistoric-looking creatures, native to the eastern part of Canada and the U.S. , have settled into the Tualatin River watershed and been spotted elsewhere, including the Clackamas, Willamette, Columbia, Sandy, Molalla, Pudding and Umpqua rivers and the Columbia Slough. 

They’re easy to spot: They have large triangular-shaped heads, a brownish round carapace or shell with pointed edges and a long pointy tail. When threatened or targeting prey, they dart out their long neck, open their wide mouth and snap, with a razor-sharp bite. 

They’re not fussy eaters, either. “They will eat anything they can get their mouths on,” said Susan Barnes, a native turtle conservationist and regional wildlife biologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “They’re stealthy predators. They’re mainly after live prey. Goslings – birds – snakes – really anything they can fit in their mouths.”