TRANSCRIPT
Child This episode is part of the series Wild Critters USA, a collaboration between Orbit, PBS Nature, and the National Wildlife Federation.
Rob - host Hank, wait up!
I know you love being in the outdoors, and these woods up here in Wisconsin sure are pretty, but we've been walking for two hours.
Rob - host Please tell me that you're close.
Rob - host That better be a yes.
Rob - host You've been tracking some kind of animal for like 8 miles, Hank.
Rob - host I think I wore a hole in my last good pair of socks.
Rob - host Hank, hold up.
Rob - host There she is.
Rob - host It's a mama turtle.
Rob - host It looks like she's laying her eggs right there in the hole she dug in the sand.
Rob - host Hank, you were following her trail this whole time?
Rob - host She walked this far to lay her eggs?
Rob - host That must have taken her forever.
Rob - host That is 1 determined little turtle mom.
Rob - host I think I'll call her Wanda, and she is a special type of turtle called a wood turtle.
Rob - host I want to learn more about her story, and so do you Orbiters.
Child What does turtle eat?
Child Why do wood turtles migrate?
Child How do these turtles live the same time as humans?
Rob - host We've got the perfect expert to teach us all about wood turtles today.
Rob - host His name is Chris Polinski, and he's the turtle expert at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Rob - host We'll meet Mr.
Rob - host Chris in a few minutes.
Rob - host But first, let's go check in with our amiga, Luna.
Rob - host And here we are again with Miss Luna.
Rob - host Luna, it's so great to have you back on Orbit.
Luna - Cohost I'm so excited to be here again with you.
Luna - Cohost Woo.
Rob - host And Miss Luna, what is something that you've been excited about lately in life?
Luna - Cohost I'm excited that weather is warm and we can do summer activities.
Rob - host What are some of your favorite summer activities?
Luna - Cohost Bike riding.
Luna - Cohost Wearing Crocs with snow socks everywhere.
Rob - host That is the most specific summer activity I've ever heard of.
Rob - host Wearing Crocs like the shoes with no socks.
Rob - host Okay, so bike riding, wearing Crocs with no socks.
Rob - host Anything else?
Luna - Cohost Digging at the beach, trying to find crabs, but apparently finding baby animals.
Rob - host Oh, did you do that recently?
Luna - Cohost Yes.
Rob - host What did you find?
Luna - Cohost When I was 5, I found some baby crabs.
Luna - Cohost and baby lobster.
Rob - host Wow, you were just digging around in the sand.
Luna - Cohost Yeah, where I found a crab hole, but it wasn't a crab hole.
Rob - host It was a baby lobster hole.
Luna - Cohost And crab.
Rob - host There was a lobster hole and a crab hole together.
Rob - host What was the lobster like?
Luna - Cohost It was a little smaller and the crab hole was a little bigger.
Rob - host Okay, so we're riding our bicycles, we're wearing Crocs with no socks, and we're looking for baby crabs in the beach.
Rob - host Well, that sounds like a ton of fun.
Rob - host today, Miss Luna, we're talking about the wood turtle.
Rob - host How do you feel about turtles?
Luna - Cohost Turtles are my favorite animal species.
Rob - host I wish everybody could see you right now because you're actually wearing a turtle shirt.
Luna - Cohost It's not a shirt dress.
Rob - host Okay, so you're wearing your turtle dress.
Luna - Cohost And turtle bracelet.
Rob - host And your turtle bracelet.
Rob - host So we are all turtled out today.
Rob - host Well, let's imagine that you have just been elected mayor of Turtle Town.
Rob - host All of the residents are turtles.
Rob - host First of all, Rob - host Congratulations, Mayor Luna.
Rob - host Yay.
Rob - host Today we need you to describe Turtle Town for us.
Luna - Cohost Turtle Town will have a worm farm with yummy worms as long as spaghetti noodles so that the turtles can get worms, cook them like spaghetti, and then they take mushrooms, they mash them up to make mushroom sauce for their spaghetti, and then they fry some worms and shred them as worm cheese.
Luna - Cohost Oh wow, okay.
Rob - host So you are all about dinner in Turtle Town.
Rob - host There's going to be worm noodles, there's going to be worm cheese, and mushroom sauce.
Rob - host Okay.
Luna - Cohost And there's also a stream with stepping stones hopping from one side to the other.
Luna - Cohost Worms can also jump onto the stones, but I don't know why they would like to do that because then the turtles.
Rob - host Can just pick them up.
Luna - Cohost Garden full of strawberries, mushrooms, and of course leaves.
Rob - host Okay, so the strawberries can be for dessert.
Luna - Cohost Yeah, strawberries.
Luna - Cohost And leaves are plates.
Rob - host Oh, okay.
Rob - host And imagine that you're taking us on a tour of Turtle Town.
Rob - host What is it like?
Luna - Cohost It would be like a regular town, but turtles don't go to stores.
Rob - host Turtles don't go to stores.
Luna - Cohost There's no stores.
Rob - host Would you live in Turtle Town?
Luna - Cohost Yeah, because turtles are my favorite animal, and if I would live in Turtle Town, I would be surrounded.
Rob - host That would be awesome.
Rob - host All types of turtles, big turtles and little turtles, I imagine.
Rob - host All right families, feel free to pause the episode and talk about this with your orbiters.
Rob - host If you were mayor of your turtle town, kind of like Luna, what would it be like?
Rob - host All right, Miss Luna, are you ready to get into the episode?
Luna - Cohost Yeah, I'm ready.
Rob - host Okay.
Rob - host Today's guest is Mr.
Rob - host Chris from the Smithsonian National Zoo.
Luna - Cohost Hi, Mr.
Luna - Cohost Chris.
Luna - Cohost Welcome to Orbit.
Luna - Cohost What do you do for work?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Hello, Orbiters.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian My name is Chris Polinsky and I am a scientist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian I study turtles, how and where they live, how their populations are doing, and how we can help protect them.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian I work in the Turtle Conservation Ecology Lab, which means I get to spend a lot of time researching turtles like the wood turtle.
Luna - Cohost Hey Mr.
Luna - Cohost Chris, what were you like as a kid?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian I grew up in the greater Chicagoland area.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian When I was a kid, I was always outside, flipping over rocks and logs, exploring creeks and ponds, trying to find any animal that moved, especially reptiles and amphibians.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian I didn't know it then, but all that curiosity was actually training me to become a scientist.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian I loved asking questions and trying to figure out how nature worked.
Rob - host Hey Luna, are you ready to learn about wood turtles with Mr.
Rob - host Chris.
Child Yes, let's get into this.
Rob - host Woo, let's get started.
Rob - host Hey parents, will you take a moment to review Orbit on your podcast app and share with a friend?
Rob - host We're delighted to bring free programs for families like yours.
Rob - host Hank and I only ask that you help spread the word if you're enjoying it.
Rob - host Thank you.
Rob - host All right, Alisa, Luis, Mario, and Maya have the perfect question to help us start learning about wood turtles.
Child Hi, I'm Alisa.
Child I'm nine years old and I live in Ecuador.
Child And my question is, why does these turtles are called wood turtles?
Child Bye.
Child Hello, I am Luis Mario.
Child I am five and my question is, why are they called wood turtles?
Child Hello, my name is Maya and I am eight years old.
Child I live in Teaneck, New Jersey and my question is, why are Child They're called wood turtles.
Child Bye.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Great question, Orbiters.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They are called wood turtles because of their wood-like appearance.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Their shells look like carved wood, and they spend half their lives in the woods, walking around the forest floor searching for food and a sunny spot to nap.
Rob - host So their shells look like wood, but there's something else that Ygritte noticed.
Child Hi, Orbit.
Child My name is Ygritte Mostajo.
Child I'm 10 years old.
Child I live in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Child And my question is, why are these turtles Child Orange.
Child Thank you.
Child Bye.
Rob - host Orbiters, what Egret noticed is that wood turtles often have a bright orange coloring on their neck and arms and head.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, can you tell me and Egret about this and maybe also help us imagine what a wood turtle looks like?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wood turtles are difficult to spot in the wild, but easy to identify once you know what to look for.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian So Wanda is about the size of a big sandwich.
Rob - host Yes, Hank, Mr.
Rob - host Chris did say sandwich.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And her legs and neck are bright orange like pumpkin orange.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian That can range from yellow to orange or even red depending on where she lives.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Scientists think those bright colors help healthy adults show off to potential mates, kind of like saying, hey, I'm strong and healthy, choose me.
Rob - host Kind of like in high school when I went to a dance and wore my favorite glow-in-the-dark polka dot suit with little axolotls on it.
Rob - host I got everybody's attention and I probably looked really cool dancing.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, other than their orange stripes, are they the same as other types of turtles?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And one of the coolest things about wood turtles is how they live.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Unlike many turtles, wood turtles spend the cold winter months in the river brumating, that's like a deep turtle sleep, and then spends the hot summer months on land, walking through forests, finding food, and warming up in the sun.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian That's called thermal regulation.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian It's how animals control their body temperature using the world around them.
Rob - host Mr.
Rob - host Chris taught me a new word in there.
Rob - host Brumating.
Rob - host Want to say that with me?
Rob - host On the count of three.
Rob - host One, two, 3.
Rob - host Brumating.
Rob - host Way to go.
Rob - host You might have heard of hibernation, like what bears do in the wintertime.
Rob - host Well, Mr.
Rob - host Chris told me that brumating is different because they're sleeping, but sometimes they can get up, move around, eat a little, and then maybe go back to their long nap.
Rob - host Speaking of eating, Juliana wants to know more about their diet.
Child Hi, I'm Juliana.
Child And my question is what do these turtles eat?
Child Bye.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Good question, Juliana.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian So Wanda is an omnivore, which means she eats plant and animal matter.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Anything from slugs and mushrooms to berries and leaves, even dead animals.
Rob - host Hey Orbiters, listen closely to this next part, because Mr.
Rob - host Chris told me something really turtle-y cool.
Rob - host He told me about something called worm stomping.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wood turtles also conduct this thing called worm stomping, where they essentially smash their plastron, so the bottom of their shell, against the ground in an effort to bring worms to the surface.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And then they can eat those worms.
Rob - host To me, it sounds kind of like they're dancing for worms.
Rob - host So Mr.
Rob - host Chris, why would worms come up when they're doing the worm stomping dance?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian When it rains, worms come to the surface.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And so the wood turtle is trying to replicate rain hitting the ground.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And that's what brings the worms to the surface.
Rob - host Isn't that incredible, orbiters?
Rob - host So when wood turtles do their favorite dance move, worms come out because they think it's raining.
Rob - host It's kind of like if every time I started dancing salsa, a delicious apple or watermelon came out of the ground.
Rob - host Hey Orbiters, I asked Mr.
Rob - host Chris how long a wood turtle can live.
Rob - host Get this, 40 to 80 years.
Rob - host But here's an even cooler fact.
Rob - host Scientists have a special trick for figuring out exactly how old a turtle is.
Rob - host Remember what we called the bottom of a turtle shell a few minutes ago?
Rob - host That's right, the plastron.
Rob - host Okay, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, how can you tell a turtle's age?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian To age a turtle, you can count the rings on its placeron.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They're called annuli, and the number of annuli more or less equates to the age of the turtle.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian It's a little like growth rings on a tree.
Rob - host Hey Orbiters, have you ever seen a tree stump with rings on it?
Rob - host Trees grow faster in warm, sunny seasons and slower in cold ones.
Rob - host And that change in speed is what makes the rings show up.
Rob - host One new ring every year.
Rob - host Turns out turtles do almost the exact same thing.
Rob - host Their shell grows fast when food is easy to find and slowly when it's cold and they're eating less, like when they're broom eating.
Rob - host Since that happens every single year, each ring means one more year old.
Rob - host Hey, you know, when I was growing up, I lived close to the woods and sometimes we would find a little turtle wandering close to my home.
Rob - host That reminds me of this question from Sam.
Child Hi, my name's Sam.
Child I'm 7 years old.
Child I'm from Newfoundland, New Jersey.
Child My question is, if I see a turtle outside, what should I do?
Child Thank you.
Child Bye.
Rob - host We brought Sam's question to our friend David Meszewski.
Rob - host Mr.
Rob - host David is a science advisor for Ranger Rick Magazine from the National Wildlife Federation.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host David, what advice do you have for me and Sam the next time we see a wild turtle?
David Mizejewski - NWF The best thing to do if you find a turtle is to just let it be.
David Mizejewski - NWF Turtles are wild animals and their home is out in nature.
David Mizejewski - NWF That's where they're happiest.
David Mizejewski - NWF Wild turtles don't make good pets and it's usually against the law to take them inside.
David Mizejewski - NWF If you see a turtle in a road, tell a grown-up about it.
David Mizejewski - NWF If it's safe, the grown-up can move it to the side of the road in the direction that it was going.
David Mizejewski - NWF And if you're lucky enough to spot a turtle, really the best thing to do is just enjoy the chance to watch it.
David Mizejewski - NWF I like to take photos to save the memory.
David Mizejewski - NWF Pictures can help you identify what kind of turtle David Mizejewski - NWF it is, and you can even use a photo to make a drawing or painting of your turtle neighbor when you get home.
Rob - host Thanks, Mr.
Rob - host David.
Rob - host One of my favorite things about the National Wildlife Federation is how you help us learn to interact with wildlife.
Rob - host And parents, if you'd like to continue learning with Ranger Rick Magazine, I'll leave a link in the show notes.
Rob - host All right, let's get to this question from today's co-host, Luna.
Child How does the wood turtle care for its young?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Thank you for your question, Luna.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian So wood turtles deposit their eggs in soft sandy soil and bury them deep so predators can't find them.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian That's all the care they give.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And hopefully that's enough.
Rob - host I think it's so interesting how there are many different ways that animals care for their babies.
Rob - host We've learned about how mama bald eagles incubate their eggs before they hatch, and how mama alligators stay close to their babies in case they get in danger.
Rob - host And even how mama mussels spit their babies out so they can catch a ride on passing fish.
Rob - host Now we see mama wood turtles who bury their eggs to avoid being found before they hatch.
Rob - host But when they hatch, the babies are ready to fend for themselves.
Child Hello, my name is Hector Pineda.
Child I live in Michigan and I come from Mexico.
Child And my question is, how do these turtles live the same time as humans?
Rob - host I think that's an awesome question, Hector.
Rob - host We're going to learn a lot about how humans and wood turtles share spaces.
Rob - host But first, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, do wood turtles live close to humans?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Great question, Hector.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Yes, wood turtles live in the United States and Canada, from Virginia to Nova Scotia all the way over to Minnesota.
Rob - host Hector actually sent us this question from the state of Michigan.
Rob - host And there's lots of wood turtles in Michigan.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And lots of people live there too, cities like Boston, Philadelphia, even Washington, D.C.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wanda might not live in those big cities, but she does live nearby.
Rob - host So what kind of environment is Wanda the wood turtle looking for, Mr.
Rob - host Chris.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wood turtles need very special places to live.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They require clear, cool rivers where they sleep, mate, and find food.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Around those rivers, they need healthy plants and trees that keep the water clean and give safe places to hide.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They also need mature forests with big and small trees, plus a mix of other habitats like grassy areas and sunny patches where she can warm up, look for food, and explore.
Rob - host Wow, that sounds so beautiful.
Rob - host So they'd probably just stay in that place all year long.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wood turtles don't just use one type of habitat.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They use a whole neighborhood of different places throughout the year.
Rob - host We'll learn more about this in a little bit, but first, let's pause for mystery sound.
Rob - host While you're thinking about the mystery sound, you can do your best impression of a wood turtle doing the worm stomping dance.
Rob - host Think you got it?
Rob - host Stick around to the end for the answer.
Rob - host Okay, let's get back to learning about these wood turtles and people.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, you said that wood turtles live in parts of the country with lots of people.
Rob - host Has their home changed with all the new people?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian So hundreds of years ago, Wanda's great-great-grandmother would have lived in a clean, clear river inside a quiet forest.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian The sounds of rushing water and whistling birds was all she could hear.
Rob - host Wow, that sounds dreamy.
Rob - host If Wanda's home is close to a city, I bet it's pretty different today.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Today, Wanda's home is surrounded by houses, roads, parking lots, and noisy places all in her backyard.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Her forest is small, the trees are smaller, her river is dirtier, the creek flows stronger, and she has to be much more careful.
Rob - host Sounds like her home has changed A lot.
Rob - host Hey families, this is actually a cool activity that you can do with your sense of hearing.
Rob - host One day, when you're in a city, you can close your eyes together and listen for a little bit.
Rob - host Maybe sit on a park bench together so you don't fall down.
Rob - host What sounds do you notice?
Rob - host What sounds are nature sounds and what sounds are human sounds?
Rob - host Then you can go as a family outside of the town.
Rob - host close your eyes again and notice what sounds you hear.
Rob - host Try to notice how it's similar and how it's different from the sounds you heard inside the city.
Rob - host Then you can imagine how big of a change it must have been when people started moving into the areas that our little turtle friend Wanda calls home.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wanda isn't afraid.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian She's tough.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian But all these changes make her world feel smaller and much busier than before.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian We might not realize it, Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Everything we build or change in the landscape affects the animals that live there.
Rob - host I bet Wanda is a tough little turtle.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, you mentioned that wood turtles move around A lot.
Rob - host Margaret sent us a question about this.
Child Hi.
Child I'm Margaret.
Child I'm 5 years old and I live in Dallas, Texas.
Child And my question is, why do wood turtles migrate?
Rob - host Great question, Margaret.
Rob - host And before Chris answers, do you remember what migrate means?
Rob - host Here's three options.
Rob - host Is it A, to sleep in the mud all winter long?
Rob - host Is it B, to travel from one home to another as the seasons change?
Rob - host Or is it C, to grow a brand new shell every year?
Rob - host Shout out your answer.
Rob - host Okay, if you said it means traveling from one home to another as the seasons change, you were right.
Rob - host Way to go.
Rob - host All right, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, why do wood turtles migrate?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Wood turtles migrate because they need different things at different times of year.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian In the spring, after a long winter sleeping in the river, they head out to find sunny spots to warm up.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian In summer, they wander through the forest looking for food and shelter.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian In the fall, they head back into the river to safely sleep for the winter.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian They're small travelers with a busy seasonal schedule.
Rob - host Okay, so they move around a lot while the weather changes, but how far do they go?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Most wood turtles stay within a few football fields of their river home, but some travel much further.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian One turtle in our study moved 13 kilometers, about 8 miles away from its home.
Rob - host Wow, that must have been the turtle that Hank and I were following at the start of the episode.
Rob - host Hank, you did a great job tracking it down.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian But turtles like Wanda face many obstacles.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Imagine Wanda again.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian She's ready to lay her eggs and is preparing a long travel to her nesting habitat.
Rob - host A nesting habitat means she goes to a special place that has the perfect conditions for laying her eggs, like soft, sandy ground to dig a big hole.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian She's used to climbing over logs and rocks, up hills and through streams, through tall grass and thick forests, avoiding things like raccoons and even other grumpy wood turtles.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian sand and lays 5 eggs.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian She then begins her journey home.
Rob - host That sounds like a tough journey, even for a tough little animal like Wanda and orbiters.
Rob - host Things like roads, neighborhoods with houses and litter or trash that people leave make the migration even harder.
Rob - host And it's not just super awesome turtles who are affected by people.
Rob - host Lots of animals migrate.
Rob - host Some of them migrate in the air, like butterflies or ducks.
Rob - host Some of them migrate on land, like turtles or many types of deer.
Rob - host And some Rob - host animals in the water migrate too, like tuna or humpback whales.
Rob - host Sophia and I want to know how we can be good neighbors to all these busy moving animals.
Child Hi, my name is Sophia.
Child I'm three and a half years old.
Child I live in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Child And my question is, how can we help migrating animals?
Child Thank you, bye.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Great question, Sophia.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian So scientists, park rangers, engineers, and city planners all help animals like Wanda by protecting habitats and building safe crossings.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Families can help too by keeping streams clean, planting native plants, driving carefully, and giving wildlife the space they need.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian And for turtles, if it's safe, you can help them cross the road by moving them in the direction they were headed.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Roads are one of Wanda's biggest threats.
Rob - host But remember, orbiters, if you're going to help a little turtle near a road, Rob - host Always ask an adult to help the turtle while you watch and cheer them on.
Rob - host That's Hank's way of saying, way to go, mom.
Rob - host Good job helping that turtle.
Rob - host Hey, let's go check in with our friend Luna.
Rob - host Hey, Luna, are you ready to take a short break and stretch and move around a little bit?
Luna - Cohost Yeah, I really want one.
Rob - host Yeah, me too.
Rob - host I really do want one.
Rob - host Yeah, I believe it.
Rob - host You're like, Robert, I cannot continue to record sitting down right now.
Rob - host Okay, what kind of movement should orbiters do?
Luna - Cohost A turtle.
Luna - Cohost Grab a cardboard box or pretend you have a cardboard box or at least put a blanket on top of yourself, please.
Rob - host And is that the turtle shell?
Luna - Cohost Yeah.
Rob - host Okay.
Rob - host And if it is their second or third time listening to the episode, how should an orbiter change it up?
Luna - Cohost If you're with a friend or a family member, or if you're alone, pretend that you have someone with you and... Luna - Cohost Ask them to be the predator so that you can get into your shell.
Rob - host Oh, okay.
Rob - host And so one of you should be the predator and the other one should be the turtle that goes into its shell.
Luna - Cohost Yeah.
Rob - host And while we're being turtles, let's recap what we've learned.
Rob - host We learned that wood turtles like Wanda get their name from shells that look like carved wood, and they spend part of the year brumating, a kind of deep turtle sleep.
Rob - host One amazing trick that turtles have is worm stomping, where Wanda pounces her shell against the ground to copy the vibrations of rain, tricking worms into coming up so that she can eat them.
Rob - host Every year, mama wood turtles travel between their river home and a sandy nesting spot, sometimes crossing miles of forests, fields, and even roads.
Rob - host Since turtles like Wanda share their home with people, scientists and families can help by keeping rivers clean, working together to save their habitats, and adults can help turtles cross the road safely.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, how can families continue to learn about turtles?
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian If you'd like to learn more about wood turtles, you can visit NortheastTurtles.org or the Turtle Survival Alliance webpages.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian You can also check out your state wildlife agency's website, which usually has fun facts and guides about the turtles that live near you.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Don't forget to check out your local library for books like Year of the Turtle or Of Time and Turtles, two of my favorite turtle books.
Rob - host I don't know about you orbiters, but I love Rob - host of animal books.
Rob - host Parents, we'll leave some of those links and titles in the show notes.
Rob - host Hey, Mr.
Rob - host Chris, thanks so much for teaching us about wood turtles like Wanda today.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Orbiters, thank you so much for having me on the podcast and for exploring the world of wood turtles with me today.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Keep asking questions, knowledge is power, and science is awesome.
Chris Polinsky - Smithsonian Turtles are tough, and we're doing everything we can to save them.
Rob - host Hey parents, our guest today was Chris Polinski, a biologist with the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Rob - host And a special thanks to our friends Ellie and Ben from the Smithsonian Institute for helping organize this episode with Chris.
Rob - host You are awesome, Ellie and Ben.
Rob - host Hey orbiters, before we wrap up, I bet a few of you are curious about the mystery sound.
Rob - host Do you remember it?
Rob - host If you said it's a squeaky door opening, you were right.
Rob - host Way to go.
Rob - host All right, let's go check in with our friend Miss Luna.
Rob - host Hey Miss Luna, we learned a lot today about wood turtles.
Rob - host What was something that you thought was interesting?
Luna - Cohost Roommating.
Luna - Cohost I didn't know that turtles going to the water to sleep.
Luna - Cohost I thought they hibernated or something like that.
Rob - host Yeah, that was new for me too.
Rob - host Before we say goodbye, why don't we give families a conversation starter?
Rob - host What is something that families can talk about or do together?
Luna - Cohost Would you rather, would you rather have a shell Luna - Cohost like a turtle or have no legs and arms like a snake.
Rob - host Wow, that's such a good question.
Rob - host I think I know what your answer to this would be, but which one would you rather, Miss Luna?
Luna - Cohost I would rather have a turtle shell.
Rob - host Yeah, that would be really cool.
Rob - host Personally, I'd love to move around like a snake.
Rob - host Hey, Miss Luna, we are about to finish this episode.
Rob - host Do you have a joke or a riddle for orbiters today?
Luna - Cohost I have a joke.
Luna - Cohost Why can't the mama turtle tell her eggs a joke?
Rob - host Okay, why can't the mama turtle Rob - host tell her eggs a joke.
Rob - host It has something to do with her shell, but I don't know exactly what it is.
Rob - host Luna, can you help us out?
Luna - Cohost Because they'll crack up.
Rob - host It wasn't even about her shell.
Rob - host I thought it was going to be she can't come out of her shell, but that wouldn't make sense because she does come out of her shell sometimes.
Rob - host Anyways, great joke.
Rob - host I love it.
Rob - host Miss Luna, any special messages for our audiences today?
Luna - Cohost Keep your learning going and remember to brush your teeth and take a shower.
Rob - host Yes, for all the stinky orbiters out there.
Rob - host All right, we'll see everybody soon.
Rob - host Bye bye.
Rob - host Bye.
Rob - host This episode is part of the Wild Critters series, a collaboration with our friends at PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation.
Rob - host Orbit is produced by Cumbre Kits.
Rob - host This episode was written by me, Robert Carpenter.
Rob - host The producer is Herwin Riera.
Rob - host Artwork for the episode by Moises Monsalve and Jorge Wake.
Rob - host And parents, if you enjoyed this episode, would you share it with two more families who you think would love Orbit?
Rob - host Parents like you are the number one way that families learn about our programs.
Rob - host All right, we'll see you in the next episode.
Rob - host Ciao.
Child The important thing is not to stop questioning Albert Einstein.
