Summer Interns Step up to Protect

the Common Snapping Turtle

A snapping turtle instinctively heads toward the water after hatching

Photo: Alex Tran

The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is one of two species of turtle that live in the Gault Nature Reserve (with the paint turtle). In Canada, the turtle is designated as a special concern species, which means that it may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of threats. One of these threats is nest destruction and predation. Every year, conservationists swing into action to protect turtle nests on the shores of Lake Hertel.

McGill students play an important part in these efforts. Yet again this summer, students from the McGill Faculty of Science contributed to the conservation and protection of species such as the common snapping turtle, gaining valuable field experience in the process.

“Every morning, we walk around the shores of Lake Hertel looking for signs that a turtle has laid eggs,” says Savannah Bissegger O’Connor, a first-year biology student. “When we discover a nest, we put up a protective cage and signage to alert hikers.”

Blast from the Past

The Very First Scientific Publications at the Reserve

Medeola virginiana, herbarium specimen collected by Paul Maycock

Photo: McGill University

Research has been a central part of the Gault Nature Reserve for a very long time. As a matter of fact, renowned scientists have been meandering through the vast forests of Mont Saint‑Hilaire since the late 19th century.

One such scientist was Thomas Sterry Hunt, professor of applied chemistry and minerology at McGill. In 1860, he published an analysis of igneous rocks in Canada in The American Journal of Science, in which he discussed his observations on Mont Saint-Hilaire.

In the 1870s, Sir John W. Dawson, geologist, and principal of McGill, carried out numerous field studies in geology and botany, and published articles in The Canadian Naturalist in 1877 and 1878.

Brother Marie-Victorin, whose accomplishments include the creation of the Montréal Botanical Garden, collected plant specimens on Mont Saint-Hilaire from 1905 onward. In 1913, he published a report on the mountain’s flora in the Bulletin de la Société Géologique du Québec.

In the summer of 1950, Paul Maycock, a botanist, ecologist, and professor at McGill University, conducted the first comprehensive survey of the forests of Mont Saint-Hilaire. The results, published in 1961, are still used today to track changes in the Reserve’s biodiversity.*

* see article published by Université de Montréal

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About our Blast from the Past series

As owner and guardian of the Gault Nature Reserve, we plan to celebrate the university’s bicentennial by publishing a monthly photo in InfoGault. Each photo will capture a moment from the history of this beautiful site.