Tishomingo NFH Display at 2007 Wildlife Expo, Sept. 29, 2007; photo by Tishomingo NFH Staff

Visitors to Wildlife Expo Study Common and Alligator Snapping Turtles at Tishomingo NFH Display, 9-29-07; photo courtesy of Tishomingo NFH Staff

Tishomingo NFH participated in the 2007 Oklahoma Wildlife Expo at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, OK, this month.  This three-day event is sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and many private sponsors.  As part of our display, we used pictorial examples of the life cycles of paddlefish, channel catfish, and alligator snapping turtles as they are reared at the hatchery.  Also featured in this pictorial display were historical views of the hatchery, the water wheel, each season’s beauty on Pennington Creek, and the seaside alder tree.  Live displays in aquariums featured a cross-section view of an actual alligator snapping turtle nest as it would be found near a pond, a four-year old alligator snapping turtle, a 3-week-old alligator snapping turtle hatchling.  As an educational tool for comparison of the two species, an adult common snapping turtle and a 5-week-old common snapping turtle hatchling were live aquaria displays.  Non-stop lines of visitors were full of questions and amazed at the comparison of the common and alligator snapping turtles, many of whom had never seen any kind of turtle in such close proximity. An estimated crowd of 30,000 enjoyed this free exhibition of Oklahoma’s wildlife and associated activities.