Name: To Shell and Back: Saving the Elusive Bog Turtle with wildlife biologist, Mike Knoerr
Start: 2025-02-05T17:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-02-05T21:00:00-05:00
Location: The Mule at Devil's Foot Beverage

To Shell and Back: Saving the Elusive Bog Turtle with wildlife biologist, Mike Knoerr

Wednesday, February 5th
5:00 – 9:00 PM.
Saving the Elusive Bog Turtle with wildlife biologist Mike Knoerr.
We’re back (and raising shell)!
Life for the bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) can be sweet, basking in the sun and trawling the murky depths of its wetland habitat for insects, worms, and other swampy delicacies. North America’s smallest turtle (adults are less than 12 cm long), this tiny testudine’s very existence is testament to the enduring strength of nature and the wonders of evolution. Its very existence is also in jeopardy (populations are in decline across its range) and conserving them is no easy task – try searching acres of wetland for a fist-sized, brown blob that can go all day fully submerged in mud.
For our February salon, we shellebrate reptiles, ecology, and conservation science. Join Mike Knoerr, the Wildlife Biologist for Pisgah National Forest (US Forest Service), to wade into North Carolina’s mountain wetlands in search of the elusive bog turtle. Mike spent his youth sloshing through wetlands, his graduate studies investigating turtle populations, and the ensuing decade working on research and recovery of western North Carolina’s bog turtles and other herpetofauna. His current work focuses on evaluating the status of rare wildlife in Pisgah National Forest as well as implementing restoration projects, in coordination with local and national conservation partners, to benefit the tremendous biodiversity of this magnificent National Forest.

Doors open at 5:00. Have a drink with old friends, meet new ones, and get ready for some serious science in a seriously un-serious setting.
Presentation begins at 7:00 PM. Stick around for a lively Q&A session and discussion.