Road Ecology: a very popular turtle passage!

 

In May 2018, Appalachian Corridor announced the installation of wildlife crossings for turtles and other small animals in Bolton-Est in cooperation with the ministère des Transports du Québec et le ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs. This area had been documented by Appalachian Corridor as a hotspot for turtle collisions, including species listed as threatened in Quebec or Canada.

Throughout summer, motion-sensitive cameras captured images of the land passage and waterway under Route 245. By analyzing these thousands of photos, we had a nice surprise: in addition to the snapping turtle and the painted turtle, many other species were observed, including the North-American Beaver, the Raccoon, the River Otter, the American Mink, the Hooded Merganser, amphibians, snakes, micro-mammals and even a duck with its ducklings (Wood Duck). In short, it seems that this safe passage for wildlife was expected by a large number of species!