Eric Munscher, Director of the Turtle Survival Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group, states, “We choose County Line because of the massive turtle congregation at the restaurant. Our research there is long-term (15 + years) population monitoring and modeling."
AUSTIN, Texas (PRWEB) April 30, 2018
Turtles and turtle enthusiasts will be glad to know: Turtlemania is on!
County Line BBQ restaurants will again celebrate its turtle customers—and human ones, too—with Turtlemania on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at County Line on the Lake, 5204 FM 2222. Turtlemania will live up to its motto of “Drink Beer, Save Turtles” by offering $10 pints (with $4 refills) of local Hops & Grain Brewing’s lager River Beer—in a souvenir pint glass. Appetizers are included at no charge, for those who purchase beer special in souvenir pint glass. Proceeds from the beer sales will go to the Turtle Survival Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group.
Turtlemania celebrates World Turtle Day, May 23 to “bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.”
At the County Line on the Lake, that equates to two days of research by the Turtle Survival Alliance when 20+ volunteers will research and tag turtles on May 22 and 23 with a small microchip as well as measure, weigh and determine the sex and health of the turtles.
County Line on the Lake sits on Bull Creek, right off Lake Austin. Its turtles are so numerous and so healthy that the Turtle Survival Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group has done research at the restaurant the past three years.
The public is welcome to watch (and talk to) the North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group in action from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on May 22 and May 23, as volunteers and divers from all over the country:
- capture the turtles and bring them to land
- tag the turtles with a small micro-chip and review those tagged in 2016 and 2017
- measure and weigh the turtles
- determine the sex and the health of the turtles
- release the turtles back into the lake
Eric Munscher, Director of the Turtle Survival Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group, states, “We chose County Line because we heard about the massive turtle congregation at the restaurant—maybe because County Line guests have been feeding the turtles its homemade bread for decades. And this area of Texas hasn’t had much research of this kind.
“All six species of turtle that should be in that Texas region are being researched and cataloged, including the Texas river cooter, Texas map turtle, Guadalupe softshell, red-eared slider, eastern musk turtle, and the eastern snapping turtle. The concept behind the research is long-term (15 + years) population monitoring and modeling, to see over time how many turtles are using the habitat of each species, what the sex ratios are, the percent survivability over time (how long they are living within the ecosystem), growth, diet, etc., in order to tell over time whether or not this population is healthy.”
“Over the past two years of research at County Line, we captured nearly 600 turtles representing six native species to the region, which is a great thing,” Munscher continues. “We are excited to continue this study for the next eight years, returning to County Line twice a year in an effort to get more important population data for this amazing turtle assemblage.”
County Line on the Lake is located at 5204 FM 2222 in Austin, Texas. Visit http://www.countyline.com or follow the County Line on the Lake on Facebook for updates on all the restaurant’s events, Happy Hours and specials. Call 512-346-3664 for more information.
The Turtle Survival Alliance’s mission is to transform passion for turtles into effective conversation action through a global network of living collections and recovery programs. The Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group is composed of professional scientists, students and interested members of the public who want to make a difference. Please visit http://www.turtlesurvival.org/ for more information.