Second Annual White Lake Turtle Festival
Baby Western Painted Turtle - (photo credit WLRA)
By Kathleen Ludwig
Greetings Turtle Lovers! White Lake Residents Association (WLRA) is excited to announce our second Annual White Lake Turtle Festival on Saturday, April 13, 11 am to 2 pm at White Lake Community Hall, 3617 Parri Rd, White Lake.
Last year was a huge success, with over 250 visitors attending, making this Festival a wonderful celebration and an opportunity for all of us to become better caretakers for our little friends. We learned a lot about turtles and had enormous fun with activities, great food, live music and an informative slide presentation by WildBC Educator, Peter Ballin.
This festival is our way to bring awareness to the need to care for our turtles at White Lake. Western Painted Turtles are at risk, mainly due to predators and to being killed on the roads. The baby hatchlings are very small, about the size of a toonie, so it is hard to see them if you are driving fast.
One thing we wish everyone knew… KNOW when turtles are moving across local roads and SLOW DOWN! Baby hatchlings are most on the move toward the waterways in April-June and again in August-September. Adult turtles move mostly in July. If you see a turtle, STOP, and allow it to cross the road. It is very distressing to see broken, dead turtles.
Danielle Bryant, Natalia & Vera at the White Lake Turtle Festival - Photo Contributed
Our motto for the festival is “Learn. Enjoy. Protect”. Lucie Thomson of Vernon shared her experience of the day, saying, “my ten-year-old son and I love to learn about aquatic creatures and were keen to check out the White Lake Turtle Festival in 2023. The event was very family-friendly, and my son loved the live music, crafts and food trucks, as well as the various information booths. We found it especially interesting to hear about the dynamics between the local turtle and otter population. The event was informative and great fun. We are planning to come again this year!”
One thing we wish everyone knew… Our White Lake community is creating a record of how many turtles we have and how many live or dead turtles we find on our roads. For 2023, we recorded 83 live adults, 37 hatchlings dead on the road and 30 live hatchlings. We ask everyone to please report any sightings to turtles.wlra@gmail.com, as this helps us know if our protection efforts are working.
We welcome all of you to our festival! Come enjoy this fun-filled community event, packed with lots to do and things to learn about the well-loved Western Painted turtles that live in our lake. Join us to celebrate our turtles and discover what YOU can do to help them thrive!
