The Museum’s dedicated team of scientists and volunteers spearhead wildlife restoration and conservation projects: collecting, breeding, raising, and studying a variety of creatures to learn more about how to ensure the survival of threatened species.
Blanding’s Turtles Restoration Project
It’s hard not to notice the turtles with the bright yellow chins and throats in the Mysteries of the Marsh exhibition. Called Blanding’s, these distinguishable turtles live in custom-built tanks and have resided in the Museum since April, 2008.
Since that time, bologists at the Museum, in collaboration with the DuPage Forest District and Willowbrook Wildlife Center, have been busy prepping these endangered turtles for a better chance of survival in their habitat. This process, called “headstarting,” involves collecting female eggs, incubating them and caring for the hatchlings before releasing them into protected natural areas.
“The first two years of their life is the time the turtle shell is most vulnerable,” said Celeste Troon, living vertebrates manager at the Museum. “It is important to give these turtles special care during the first few years so their shells will harden up. Once the shells harden, the turtles have a better means of defense and it is our hope this will increase their survival rate.”
In September, 2008, our first batch of baby Blanding’s left their nests at the Museum for natural wetland surroundings. One Blanding’s turtle was fitted with a radio transmitter so researchers can continue to study its range. The Museum will continue to headstart more Blanding’s throughout the year in an effort to increase their overall survival rate.
A special thank you to The Walls Family for their generous contribution towards this program.
|
|
Butterfly Restoration Project
The Nature Museum is bolstering the population of rare and endangered butterflies native to our region. In December 2001, the Museum received the prestigious BP Leader Award and a butterfly restoration project was launched that has re-introduced imperiled insects to help with our region’s ecological restoration.
Initially, two butterflies were chosen. The Swamp Metalmark has not been seen in Illinois in 20 years and the Silver-bordered Fritillary is now rare in the state. We obtained females of both species as well as their host plants and watched with delight as caterpillars emerged in our own breeding laboratories. After we successfully reared both species’ caterpillars, we transferred the Swamp Metalmarks to Bluff Spring Fen and Silver-bordered Fritillaries to Fermilab. Last fall, we added more caterpillars to the field to supplement those already re-introduced.
In 2003, we added a third butterfly. The Aphrodite Fritillary is a large and colorful butterfly – tawny orange with metallic markings on the underside. We gathered females and brought them to our labs to lay eggs. Seventy hatched and were released to the fields in Glacial Park in McHenry County in Spring 2003. In the coming year, the Nature Museum will add two more species to the project: the Silvery Blue Butterfly and the Leadplant Flower Moth. Only four populations of the Silvery Blue exist in Illinois and the Leadplant Flower Moth only exists in the few locations where leadplant grows. Once bred, these species will be released in Kane and McHenry counties.
The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network
The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network (IBMN) is an organization formed more than 20 years ago to measure the long-term effects of prairie restoration activities on animals. Since its inception in 1987, the butterfly monitoring sites have grown from seven in the Chicagoland area to more than 100 sites. Today, there are about 150 members of the IBMN who monitor an average of six sites per year between May through August. On their trips, these monitors "walk and watch" - walk at a constant pace along a fixed route through a predetermined location and count butterflies within view, noting their species. The data gives researchers a picture of where butterflies currently thrive, and alerts them to population and habitat changes.
For more information about the IBMN, or to become a monitor, visit www.bfly.org.
|
|
Project Squirrel
No matter where you live, city or suburb, from the Midwest to the East Coast, Canada to California, if squirrels live in your neighborhood, you are encouraged to become a squirrel monitor.
Fox squirrels and grey squirrels are two of the most familiar species of wildlife in many neighborhoods and natural areas. In addition to being interesting animals to watch, squirrels can tell us a lot about our local environment and how it is changing. To gain this insight, we must gather data about as many individual squirrels in as many places as possible. This is where you come in; you can be a Citizen Scientist.
Learn how you can become a Project Squirrel citizen scientist.
|
|
