RESTORE COOTES

Turtles move slow but they can cover a lot of ground. When the weather warms in the spring, male and female turtles start to roam, with female turtles seeking nesting sites to lay eggs. They are busiest during May and June, but will be making their rounds anytime between April and October ( Source ).  The babies hatch later in the summer or early fall and are born into a world of danger, with predators being a top hazard, but roads play a role in reducing the hatchling's survival rates.  Less than 1 in a hundred turtle eggs laid will hatch and grow into an adult turtle. ( Source )    Turtles take a long time to reach sexual maturity, meaning that maintaining a robust population requires protection. Adult snapping turtles, for instance, have a 99% survival rate in the wild, but road mortality tips the scales against them. The loss of a fertile adult female creates a huge deficit in the survivability of the species in a region.  A good source for information on tu...

Please help us raise awareness of the simple thing drivers (and passengers) can do to avoid killing at-risk turtles and other wildlife on Cootes Drive between Dundas and Hamilton. TAKE OUR PLEDGE: ProtectTurtlesCootes   (takes less than one minute to complete) Alternative routes between Dundas and Hamilton exist, and taking these routes will only add a minute to most drivers reaching their destination. Often you might not even be aware you've hit a young turtle, or a snake, for example, yet in the case of turtles, each death means this at-risk group is one death closer to extirpation. Turtles take a long time to reach maturity, and most hatchlings never make it to adulthood so you can see the dilemma. Please take a minute to pledge your commitment to use an alternate route, and help Restore Cootes and other groups do their part to protect our reptile friends. A previous survey showed that 70% of respondents would do this for the turtles. Hopefully, you will join them! Thanks in adv...

Everything you need to know here!

Can you spare one minute for the turtles? TAKE OUR PLEDGE TO AVOID COOTES DRIVE A minute here; a minute there,  time to save lives!  The other night I had a chat with someone who presented a more complicated routing issue between Dundas and Hamilton. Someone living in the Hopkins Court section of town would pay a higher price in time to avoid Cootes and Olympic (6 more minutes given Cootes would take 8 minutes vs 14 minutes using the York/Osler combo.) But this is the exceptional circumstance. If drivers took alternatives at least for some journeys, it's going to help overall, right? What do you think? Can you spare a minute or five?

Somethings all Restore Cootes supporters should know: "Cootes Drive is especially dangerous [for wildlife] because the roadway is between two wetland areas." "This area has been identified as a high mortality area," she said." "So far this year, 14 adults [snapping turtles] were killed trying to cross the road." The historical context that placed Cootes Drive in the middle of an environmentally sensitive biodiversity hotspot in 1936-37 can be seen in retrospect as a huge mistake, and one that the marsh inhabitants pay for daily with their lives. The road certainly wasn't needed in '37, and it probably isn't really needed today: Restore Cootes wants you to think of life without Cootes Drive: it becomes a trade off of a couple minutes extra driving for cars and trucks in exchange for protecting endangered species and rehabilitating one of the most important marsh habitats on Lake Ontario. Here's the full text from the Hami...

video platform video management video solutions video player Very satisfying to see real action taken to protect vulnerable species. Will the Cootes Paradise turtle population get the same treatment?

Usually, standing on the median between the northbound/southbound lanes of Cootes Drive would be an unnerving experience, due to the high speed traffic clocking in at 80km/hour and more. But during construction, the closure of the southbound lane of Cootes Drive (see video) has calmed traffic speeds and made the road quieter and safer. With Spencer Creek and ponds to the left of the road, and Cootes Paradise Nature Sanctuary wetlands to the right, the inhabitants of the natural environment fare poorly when forced to interact with traffic. The huge distance between the shoulders of the road are a major barrier for amphibian and other wetland species, including species at risk like Cootes Paradise's turtle population. When the road was built in 1936-37, it was built as an example of the new modern highway design: divided lanes with a grassy median, easy curves and low grades. These innovations were achieved in this instance by removing hills and then using the soil to fill i...

Out of sight, but not out of hearing range, the 403 disrupts the quiet on the Ginger Valley Trail at the eastern edge of Cootes Paradise. Cootes Drive does the same at the western end. Walking along the Ginger Valley trail my 15-year-old daughter commented that she can't remember ever walking on a trail where she couldn't hear traffic. Roads bisect and disrupt the natural areas we have, fragmenting both habitat, and the experience of habitat. Even when out of sight, traffic interferes with the enjoyment of nature, and has become the background soundtrack to our lives. The ironic thing is, to escape, we must get in cars and drive hours away, and even then, must work to get away from vehicular noise. Is there a place locally that defies the constant hum or drone of motor vehicles?