Britain's Lost Turtle

A huge thanks to Jack Perks (videography), Roman Muryn (videography), Malcolm Tweats (narration), Matt Lowe (Cambridge Zoological Collections), Peter Cooper, Steven Allain, Derek Gow and Staffordshire County Council.

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Imagine you could travel back through 6,000 years of history. Back to an ancient wildland somewhere in southern Britain. Here, the layers of human civilization have been removed, leaving a large patchwork of woodland, grassland, scrub and wetland. The ecosystem bears somewhat of a resemblance to remaining, wild areas of Britain today. Yet, within this pond in a woodland glade drenched in sunlight, you will notice a creature more fitting to the tropics than to Britain - a turtle.

The European pond turtle is the world's most northerly living turtle, with a range, in these times, as north as southern Sweden. This is a female. And she is a good size, she could be over 60 years old.
She stretches her legs far out, to catch as much warmth from the sun as possible. It is the breeding season, and a nearby male appears keen in the female and she is luckily receptive.They both enter the water. Within the water the male mounts the female, clamping his long claws to her shell. He seduces her by blowing water on to the back of her neck. He slowly moves backward, awaiting her approval. She approves, allowing them to mate, in a ballet motion, under the surface. After an ordeal underwater, a breath of air is much needed.

For generations, European pond turtles have layed their eggs on this south-facing sandy slope and our female will lay her clutch of 10 to 18 eggs through the night. The sandy slope is maintained by the movements of large herbivores, such as wild cattle known as aurochs. They rip up the earth during their breeding season, exposing sand. However, on this occasion, About 4 months since our female laid her eggs, the ground of the sandy slope is beginning to move for a different reason. A hatchling pond turtle emerges. Being about the size of a 50 pence piece, their first steps are tentative. Their instinct kicks in; head for water.

Although vulnerable to predation, young European pond turtles are predators themselves, feeding upon insects, carrion, fish and small amphibians. They forage in the pond, allowing their golden flecking to blend themselves into the murky water as well as using the water as a swallowing device.
It is unusual that pond turtles hatch this early this far north. However, this summer has been a scorcher, allowing the turtles to emerge from the nest chamber now rather than the following spring.
Over the past few weeks, the sun has baked the landscape to a crisp. This makes it unfortunately vulnerable to a rare visitor to these parts. Man.

Ever since the arrival of agriculture, man has cleared the land by axe. But the most deadly tool in his arsenal is fire. Systematically, man clears huge areas of forest at a time - this particular area leads straight to the woodland pond. Our female pond turtle is in grave danger, after venturing from the pond to bask. She must return immediately. Safe at last, in the cool retreat of the pool.

European pond turtles managed to cling on for another 1000 years in Britain, yet through habitat changes facilitated by man, and their already present vulnerability to northern climates, they only remain as fossils in museum collections. Like this one, housed at Cambridge universities zoological collections. These fossils act as a portal in which we all pass to a wilder place.

And if there is one thing that this story can teach us, it's that in every pond, pool or lake, or landscape, creatures we could only picture living in a far flung land now, abounded just a short while ago. Hopefully, that wilder kingdom may be recovered once more. As for our female pond turtle in the neolithic however, she sleeps peacefully through the winter, awaiting the drama of the following spring.

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