Kelowna woman waded into mucky pond to save trapped turtle

It was probably not on Sylvia Schaus' agenda to wade into mucky water and save a turtle while walking with her friends, but that is exactly what she did.

Schaus was walking the back trails at Mission Creek Friday evening with Natalie Green and Karen Shale when they came upon a turtle in distress at a pond near Hall Road.

Shale said the turtle was wedged tightly in a chain mesh that she believes is used to keep debris from entering a pipe.

The turtle was able to lift its head just enough to get air, but was unable to free itself.

“He could flip himself around to get air and then he would flip back around and be paddling his little feet in the air with his head under the water,” said Shale, adding there were several long sticks nearby and it appears people tried to free the turtle that was literally fighting for its life.

“We were just not leaving that turtle there,” said Shale.

At five feet tall, Shale admits she was nervous about jumping in to the mucky water as she did not know how deep it was, so Schaus took the plunge to rescue the turtle while Green captured the event on camera.

“Sylvia jumped right in there,” said Shale, adding she and her friends walk the trail several times a week and have seen turtles in the wire mesh before.

“There's always turtles stuck in there, but they always seem to be able to make their way out, but this guy was wedged in there. Sylvia had to literally yank on him to get him out.”

Shale suspects the turtle could have lived for a while because it could get air, but being trapped in such a manner meant death was imminent.

“I always wondered below the waterline, how many are stuck that we can't see,” said Shale. “They have got to do something about this, it is getting bad.”
Shale said she believes the pond and intake fencing are the responsibility of the Regional District of Central Okanagan.

“They need to switch it out for a tighter mesh of some sort so the water can still flow but the critters don’t get stuck,” she said.