>> DAVID HAS BEEN ILLUSTRATING HIS LOVE FOR THE REPTILES FOR DECADES. >> WHY DID THE TURTLE CROSS THE ROAD? TO GET HOME TO THE OTHER SIDE. ♪ >> MORE AND MORE I AM SEEING THESE WETLANDS THAT ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY DEVELOPMENT, OR THEY ARE HEAVILY DEVELOPED ON TWO OUT OF FOUR SIDES, OR A ROAD THAT WENT IN BECAUSE OF A NEW DEVELOPMENT OR SOMETHING AND IT BISECTED WETLANDS. >> CHRIS BOGARD HAS BEEN TAKING CARE OF INJURED NEW HAMPSHIRE TO TURTLES FOR OVER TWO DECADES. >> I HAVE OUR STATE ENDANGERED SPECIES. THIS TURTLE IS A FEMALE. THIS PIECE OF TAPE IS ONLY THERE -- IT IS NOT WOUNDED ANYMORE, BUT RIGHT HERE, SHE HAS GOT THAT GAP. THAT IS A BIG ENOUGH GAP THAT IF SHE WERE TO STRETCH HER NECK OUT , AND THEY HAVE REALLY LONG NEXT, TO SUDDENLY PULL IT IN, HER NECK TISSUE WILL GET CAUGHT IN THIS CREVICE AND IT WILL IN IMMOBILIZER. UNTIL I CAN MAYBE FIND SOMETHING THAT CAN BE USED TO FILL THIS IN, SHE CANNOT BE RELEASED. >> MAY THROUGH JULY IS NESTING SEASON FOR NATIVE NEW HAMPSHIRE TURTLES. THAT MEANS MORE TURTLE CROSSINGS , AND SADLY, MORE TURTLE INJURIES. DO NOT FEAR, NEW HAMPSHIRE, THERE IS A NEW TURTLE REHAB IN TOWN. >> WE’VE GOT FOSSE HERE. SHE HAS ALL KINDS OF INJURIES. SHE HAS THIS OLD INJURY, HER SHELL HAS COMPLETELY CAVED IN. SHE HAD HEALED HERSELF FROM A SEVERE INJURY BEFORE, BUT SHE’S GOT ALL KINDS OF -- THERE’S A SPLIT HERE, COMPLETELY IN PIECES. >> DALLAS HUGGINS AND DREW STEVENS RUN NEW HAMPSHIRE TURTLE REHAB. DURING NESTING SEASON, NURSING BACK TO HEALTH DOZENS OF TURTLES IN THEIR NOTTINGHAM HOME. >> TYPICALLY WE DO A SHALL REPAIR. THAT IS PART OF IT. THANKFULLY, THEIR ANATOMY MAKES IT SO THAT THEY CAN REALLY WITHSTAND SOME AMAZING THINGS, SOME TERRIBLE SITUATIONS. BEING ABLE TO, IF THERE’S STILL BLOODFLOW, YOU CAN GET THE SHELL BACK TOGETHER AND THAT CAN HEAL AND BE A FULL SHELL AGAIN. ♪ >> AS MUCH AS I WANT TO HELP EVERY WILDLIFE EVER, I AM EXCITED TO HELP TURTLES BECAUSE IT REALLY FEELS LIKE YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL. THEY ARE GOING TO GET OUT THERE AND HAVE 10 OR 2000 YEARS LEFT. >> ANOTHER GRANITE STATE ARE DETERMINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING TURTLES IS ARTISTS, AUTHOR AND NATURALIST DAVID CARROLL. DAVID HAS BEEN DOCUMENTING, ADVOCATING, AND KEEPING FIELD JOURNALS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TURTLES IN SWAMPS NEAR HIS HOME FOR DECADES. >> THAT’S HOW I HAPPENED TO COME HERE TO WARNER 50 YEARS AGO, STILL HOPING TO FIND THE LAST GREAT SWAMP. LUCKILY, I FOUND A GREAT PLACE WHICH I CALL THE DIGS. PART OF MY LEGACY THAT I WORK ON IS MY 35 YEARS WORTH OF FIELD NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL TURTLES. >> THE AUTHOR OF FIVE BOOKS AND WETLANDS PRESERVATION ADVOCATE IS NOW AN OCTOGENARIAN AND STILL SPENDS MANY SUMMER DAYS IN THE SWAMPS CATCHING UP WITH OLD FRIENDS. >> I CAN STILL NEGOTIATE THOSE TERRITORIES. MOST OF THEM. IT’S NOT QUITE LIKE THE EVERGLADES. THERE’S PRETTY THICK PLACES WITH MUDDY WATERS AND SWAMPS. I CONTINUE TO DO THAT. I HOPE I WELCOME -- AND ANOTHER COUPLE OF YEARS. I DON’T KNOW. I HAVE RECORDS IN MY NOTEBOOK. SOME OF THE FIRST TURTLES I REPORTED AND MARKED ARE STILL OUT THERE. THAT WAS 35 YEARS AGO. THEY WERE ADULTS WHEN I FOUND THEM. THESE FIRST ONES. SINCE THEN, I HAVE FOUND YOUNG ONES, ALL AGE CLASSES. THIS YEAR, I FOUND SPOTTED TURTLE NUMBER 15. >> ALTHOUGH HIS WORK LOOKS DIFFERENT THESE DAYS. >> THAT IS THE MAIN THING. THAT I AM KNOWN FOR. THIS KIND OF ART I HAVE HERE IS STILL VERY CENTRAL TO ME. BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THE THINGS I AM ALSO DOING MORE RECENTLY IS OF A VERY DIFFERENT NATURE, COMES FROM ADAIR -- COMES FROM A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE. MY MATERIALS NOW ARE PAPER, SCISSORS, GLUE, A RAZOR BLADE. [LAUGHTER] IT IS FUNNY. >> HIS ENCOUNTER WITH A SPOTTED TURTLE AT THE AGE OF EIGHT HAS CHANGED AND DEFINED HIS CREATIVE LIFE. >> I HAVE TO BE OUT WHERE THERE ARE STILL WILD PLACES AND SPOTTED TURTLES. >> FOUR OUT OF SEVEN NEW HAMPSHIRE TURTLE SPECIES ARE LISTED, MEANING THEY ARE THREATENED OR ENDANGERED. HOW CAN YOU HELP PROTECT NEW HAMPSHIRE’S TURTLES? >> KNOW THE LOCATION. IF ANYBODY EVER FINDS AN INJURED TURTLE, THE FIRST THING TO DO IS PUT A MARKER ON THE MAP. IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF SITUATIONS, WE ARE GETTING THEM BACK TO THEIR PLACE BECAUSE THEY ARE SO SITE SPECIFIC AND RELY ON THAT. >> THE BIG THING IS SLOWING DOWN WHEN GOING THROUGH WETLANDS. IF YOU CAN DO IT SAFELY, PULLOVER. ROADS ARE HUGE. ROADS ARE A HUGE PROBLEM. OUR COINCIDENCE WITH LAWNMOWERS. A REALLY BIG ONE THAT HAS BEEN COMING UP MORE AND MORE IS DOGS. >> DO NOT PICK THEM UP AND BRING THEM HOME. THEY ARE EASY TO PICK UP, I KNOW, THEY DON’T HAVE TALONS OR BIG SHARP BEAKS, BUT THEY ARE WILD ANIMALS. THEY DO NOT WANT TO COME HOME AND LIVE IN YOUR 10 GALLON AQUARIUM. PLEASE, LEAVE THEM ALONE. >> THEY DON’T GET WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THEY DON’T KNOW WHY YOU ARE POKING THEM. THEY ARE GOING TO BE SO HAPPY WHEN YOU PUT THEM BACK OUT. THAT IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. ♪