Kate Bechmann produced a heck of a resum茅 when she went to sign up as a volunteer with the Wildlife Rescue Association last month.
The East 麻豆传媒映画resident was on her way to meet with staff at the Burnaby Lake Park facility when she came across a turtle in the middle of Glencairn Drive.
鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 get around him,鈥� she said.
She got out of her vehicle and moved the turtle to a grassy area, 鈥渁iming him toward the lake.鈥� But the animal seemed to be struggling, so Bechmann scooped it up and brought it along to the centre.
鈥淚 knew they could help him,鈥� she said.
Turns out the reptile was a member of an endangered species, thousands of kilometres away from its natural habitat.
鈥淲hat a way to start her volunteer career with us,鈥� Wildlife Rescue communications coordinator Sam Smith said with a laugh.
Wildlife Rescue personnel quickly figured out the turtle, which boasts distinctive bright orange markings and a rough shell, wasn鈥檛 native to the area and sent it to reptile experts at Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge.
They determined it was a wood turtle, a species that still lives in the wild in Southern Ontario and Quebec (as well as in isolated patches in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) but faces 鈥渋mminent extinction or extirpation,鈥� according to Ontario鈥檚 ministry of natural resources and forestry.
鈥淲e suspect that this animal was picked up in the wild and kept in captivity until its owners got bored or dumped it,鈥� Dewdney Animal Hospital veterinarian Dr. Adrian Walton said in a video about the turtle.
The clinic paid about $120 to ship the reptile via FedEx by way of a special shipper called Reptiles Express to the Speaking of Animals animal sanctuary in Severn, Ont.
Renamed 鈥淏urnaby,鈥� the turtle is now being used to educate the public.
鈥淗e is now part of a travelling wildlife education centre,鈥� owner-educator Krystal Hewitt told Burnaby Now. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be travelling all over the province 鈥� He鈥檒l be doing our one-hour, interactive presentation and coming out for kind of a 10- to 15-minute spotlight on him, where we tell his story and talk about responsible pet ownership and wood turtles.鈥�
Bechmann is delighted with the way rescue organizations mobilized to help the distressed turtle she found wandering far from home.
鈥淚鈥檓 really happy that it turned out the way it did,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 really amazed at the fantastic job they do.鈥�
Although wood turtles spend time in wooded areas, that鈥檚 not how they got their name. Wood turtles were so named because, as they age, their shells take on a wooden appearance.
