Wildlife
At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of Gateway National Recreation Area in Queens, NY, a researcher monitoring turtles in the West Pond caught two turtles in one turtle trap: a huge 30-year old common snapper turtle and a small diamondback terrapin. Imagine the bewilderment of both being trapped in a small space with each other. But they were retrieved quickly, separated (with some struggle) and duly measured, weighed and tagged before release. The eastern box turtle is also another turtle that lives at the wildlife refuge. Seldom seen, it is quite a treat to find one. Their ornate yellow pattern stands out against the scrubby vegetation of the upland areas where it tends to be found. Still, these three turtles, as well as other species, exist in the protected land of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, an oasis in the metropolis that is New York City.
