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After a hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Houston-based Eric Munscher returned to the County Line restaurant on the Austin lakefront, not for a barbecue, but for his turtles.
On Saturday morning, Munscher of the Turtle Survival Alliance and a handful of other volunteers gathered at the restaurant on Bull Creek near Lake Austin to continue a study of the numerous turtles in the area.
“It’s just great to be back outside and get people to see the turtles,” said Munscher, director of the Alliance’s North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group.
With fishing nets in tow, they dived into the water to catch, identify, and tag turtles. They returned on Sunday to continue their work and celebrate the six different local species at the Turtlemania fundraiser, where people can drink beer and save turtles.
Proceeds from the event with discounted beer from the Celis Brewery will help fund the Turtle Survival Alliance research.
The alliance, committed to the study and protection of turtles around the world, began partnering and studying with the County Line five years ago after learning of their large turtle population through social media. It’s one of three locations the group studied in Texas.
“People love bringing kids to see the turtles,” said Scott Ziskovsky, director of marketing and advertising for the County Line’s restaurants.
“Usually, I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of turtles here,” he said when he and his two young grandchildren tried to bring the turtles close to the restaurant terrace with pieces of bread.
Although the turtles were more shy on Saturday morning, the research group still caught a variety that the researchers mark with notches in their shells or small tattoos on their skin.
Munscher, who occasionally observed the turtles through the restaurant’s online “turtle camera” during the pandemic, wanted to get in touch with the local reptiles again.
“That’s a male Texas cooter,” he said, holding one of them and identifying his gender by its size, long claws and tail. “This is the most common species of turtle here.”
The aim of the study is to examine the turtle population and health over 15 years to help the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department manage local species, he said.
“Because (the turtles) love either clams and clams and the like, they help keep those populations at bay,” he said. “Where they lay lots of eggs and have lots of babies, birds, fish, mammals (then) all eat eggs and babies. So they provide a very high-energy source of food for many other animals.”
As a key species, a decline in the turtle population could also harm other animals in the local ecosystem.
The turtles’ shells make them resilient, helping them survive boat injuries and live for several decades, but they are an endangered species in parts of the world due to harvesting and poaching, Munscher said.
However, turtles have thrived in Bull Creek and across the state.
“Texas has a very healthy range of turtles,” he said.
Ziskovsky said the turtles have long been an attraction at the restaurant, but the study helped shed light on the variety of turtles there.
“We often think the little ones are the little ones, but often the elders are,” he said, referring to some of the adult male turtles that people often mistake for babies because of their smaller size than the adult females.
The restaurant now has a marker with information about the six different species found there: Texas River Cooter, Texas Map Turtle, Guadalupe Softshell, Red-Eared Slider, Eastern Musk Turtle, and Eastern Snapping Turtle.
The red-eared slider is native to Texas but has become an invasive species in other parts of the country and world where it has been a popular pet turtle, Munscher said.
The group usually examines the turtles twice a year and plans to return in the fall if Munscher said they hope to open the voluntary opportunity to more members of the public.
“When things open up more and people are more comfortable and people get vaccinated, we can volunteer to open up to volunteers from all over the country,” he said.
Those interested can check the group’s website for updates.
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