Surviving Orme Park Turtles Thriving, Release Event Set for Sunday

Last June, Paige Cucchi and her husband Sean discovered a buried turtle nest during one of their regular walks through Orme Park. Concerned residents – including Cucchi, her husband and VHCA board member Lola Carlisle – set up a protective fence around the nest so that no one would disturb the turtles until they could hatch. Click here to read about the discovery and the steps taken to protect the hatchlings from predators.

When the turtles hadn’t hatched by early fall, residents became concerned. Click here to read how staff from Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Amphibian Conservation Program, Carlisle and other VaHi residents worked together to remove the turtles from the nest and save them from what would almost certainly have been a very early demise.

ABG Amphibian Research Coordinator Mark Mandica and his staff have been nurturing the hatchlings since their birth last year, and he sent over a progress report and photograph of the young turtles last week.

“We have five healthy young turtles that made it through the winter,” Mandica said. “They’ve been outside for the past few weeks sunning and getting used to outdoor temperature fluctuations. We did the best we could but lost a few that just couldn’t pull through such a stressful hatching. Fortunately, the five that survived are heathy, active and eating like crazy!” 

Mandica says the young turtles are now healthy enough to be released into the wild, a time we all knew (hoped) would come. Knowing that many in the neighborhood have followed the turtles’ incredible saga and would want to be a part of this momentous event, we’ve scheduled a small release ceremony for 2 PM this Sunday April 26. We’ll meet at the playground on Brookridge Dr. and Mandica and his team will lead us to the best spot to release the young turtles.

If you want to see and be a part of the Orme Park turtles being released back into the wild, grab the kiddies and meet us at the Orme Park playground this Sunday at 2 PM!