Tracking Turtles

     On Wednesday May 15, 2013 we went outside with a radio transmitter to try to find turtles that had been previously tagged. We walked along the Assabet River behind Hudson High School with a radio, trying to find a snapping turtle. At first we were unsuccessful in finding a turtle. We walked for about an hour, constantly adjusting the radio waves' frequency to detect the tag on the turtle. There were some deceptive birds that chirped to make us think that the radio was beeping but it never actually did. However, when we got to a street bridge that crosses the river, we had some luck. We scanned the river and adjusted the frequency one last time when we heard the quiet beeping of the radio. We knew that there was a turtle in the area so we set out to find it. The beeping was loudest and most frequent when the radio was pointed at a patch of grass in the river, right in front of the bridge, so we determined the turtle was in that area. Unfortunately, we could not access the turtle because we could not actually go into the river. However, it was a successful endeavor because now we know that the radio transmitter works and that the batteries in the turtle's tag are still alive. We also know a general location of where at least one turtle spends some time, so we know where we can look for turtles in the future.