Meet native wildlife at Bays Mountain Park's 'Keeper Talks'

The spiny softshell turtle is rarely seen in the wild. It burrows its round, speckled shell and long neck under sand, with just its snorkel-like nose peeking out. At the Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium in Kingsport, that's what one of its softshell turtles was doing too — until Animal Care Supervisor Jake Joyner walked in. Then, like its neighboring turtles and fish, it perked up. They knew it was chow time. A lot of the park's turtles are omnivores, Joyner said, transitioning to a leafier diet as they age. Monday was a meat day, with the keeper dropping chunks of shrimp and silverside fish into the various tanks. "This guy over here, he'll about jump out of the water," Joyner said about a bass in the indoor pond. "I've learned to not feed him by hand." Bays Mountain's watershed exhibit features aquatic animals native to the area, from softshell, snapping and mud turtles to bass and bluegill. Keepers like Joyner educate visitors about the area's wildlife during feeding times and enrichment sessions. Bays Mountain hosts these "Keeper Talks" across its habitats, with the foxes, wolves, bobcats, snakes and more. Most of the animals at Bays Mountain were born in captivity. The watershed's turtles are commonly pet surrenders. Joyner said people will adopt turtles and then release them into local waterways — which can be especially destructive to the ecosystem if the turtle is invasive, like the popular red-eared slider. Pet turtles also lack the experience to survive in the wild. As an alternative to these releases, Bays Mountain Park rehomes turtles in its outdoor turtle pond during the summer. In colder months, surrendered turtles can't go straight to the pond because they're used to being warm. So, they go to the watershed. There are too many pet surrenders for the park to take in, although Joyner estimated they rehomed about 15 to 20 turtles last year. Around 30 aquatic and 80 box turtles live in the outdoor pond, and several live in the watershed and herpetarium exhibits. This summer, Bays Mountain will renovate the watershed to house turtles and more fish in its ponds. "I'm excited for all that, because then they'll have a big area," Joyner said. "And, they'll have a basking area, like a beach, they can go on." The exhibit will close during construction. Visit baysmountain.com/events to see the Keeper Talk schedule and learn more about the park's offerings.