Burbot

To anyone out there ice fishing... ECHO is looking for a burbot to exhibit along with Lake trout and Atlantic Landlocked salmon. If you land a burbot, no bigger than 18" or so, or, if you'd like more information, please give us a call at 802-864-1848 x128.
Thanks and good, safe fishing!

Baby Turtle Head Start Program Grows

Back in October, ECHO’s "head-start" program started up with more than thirty Eastern spiny softshell turtle babies. In November, the program grew by more than twenty new faces! Twenty neonatal Map and Painted turtles are also now ‘overwintering’ at ECHO.



This is a cooperative program between ECHO and Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Department. The program’s goal is to support the populations of these species living in Lake Champlain, most importantly, the Eastern Spiny softshell turtle, which is a threatened species in Vermont. Biologists believe there are only around 200 Eastern spiny softshell turtles living in the Lake Champlain basin.
The turtles will stay at ECHO until mid to late June when the Lake temperature warms up enough for the turtle’s release. Stay tuned for more information about the release and join us for this fun, rewarding stewardship activity!



While the babies are at ECHO, they'll be featured every Saturday and Sunday in the 10:30 Live Animal Encounter. Come join ECHO's Animal Care staff behind the scenes; meet the little fellows along with all the other reptiles and amphibians that make ECHO their home.

Newts in Winter

I live in Huntington, Vermont, at about one thousand feet. Across the road, up a brief hike into the woods, there's a pond, courtesy of a few neighborly beaver. I say neighborly because, if not for the beaver, there would be no home, no habitat for the map turtles, the painted turtles and the many species of amphibians that live in and around the pond.

A few winters ago, as I hiked along the ice covering on the pond, I happened upon a curious opening in the snow and ice at the pond’s edge. No snow, no ice amongst the however many feet of snow that had accumulated that winter. There was a gentle up swell in the water that created enough turbulence to maintain a plate-sized window into the shallows of the pond. The water was no deeper than four or five inches and it was crystal clear.

As I kneeled at the pond edge and stared into the frigid water, I was impressed that this little flow was able to resist the impact of the freezing temperatures, that water was still moving in such a shallow area in a pond at 1000 feet in northern Vermont.

Then something moved in the water; movement I hadn’t first detected either because of my aging eyes or because camouflage in the animal world was working well here. There were ten to twenty Eastern Newts; some slowly meandering about the sticks and leaves, some occasionally hastening their movements in territorial squabbles or in some other seemingly less than sociable interaction.

I was amazed to see active amphibians in this frigid aquatic environment so close to my habitat, with few degrees to spare, and requiring long johns, fleece, thinsulate and Gore-Tex to make it humanly tolerable.

Amazing as it might have been, it is the normal seasonal cycle in the life of Eastern newts. Unlike other amphibians that hibernate through the winter, Eastern newts remain active, typically under the ice typically hidden from human eyes, but occasionally, by virtue of a small stubborn winter water flow, available for viewing for curious minds.

The hidden world about us is amazing. The adaptations animals have gone through to persevere in Vermont winters is amazing. How can one help but be a steward for these animals.

New Baby Spiny Softshells at ECHO

Two of the 35 new baby Spiny softshell turtles enjoying their temporary winter home at ECHO. Doing well in transitioning to their new captive diet.

Lake Stewardship - Mudpuppy Stewardship

On October 1st, the Lamoille River, just below the Peterson Dam, was treated with lampricide, a pesticide, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-notrophenol, also known as TFM. Over the next two days, after the application of the chemicals, biologists surveyed the river downstream of the application site. In addition to numerous dead Sea Lamprey, over 500 dead mudpuppies were found.

In the maintenance of aquatic systems, manipulations can be made, chemicals can be added to address a particular issue, but while addressing that specific issue, they may alter characteristics of the water that may subsequently cause other problems, which might not be obvious. Chemicals can act as environmental stressors, which, while they might not immediately cause mortalities, can compromise animals physiological condition and leave them susceptible to naturally occurring environmental pathogens (even in captivity) that otherwise healthy animals can endure.

At ECHO, we avoid using chemicals in our aquatic systems. For example, we use Burlington municipal water in our aquatic displays. Burlington municipal water typically contains a chlorine level of 3-5 PPM (parts per million). At that level, it could kill many of ECHO’s aquatic and amphibious animal ambassadors. Rather than use sodium thiosulfate to dechlorinate, we aerate and circulate the water to accelerate the degassing of the chlorine. Once dechlorinated, usually within two to three days, the water can be added to ECHO’s exhibits.


At ECHO, we maintain two exhibits of mudpuppies. With their aquatic lifestyle and their external gills, they are particularly susceptible to chemicals and changes in water quality. If we exposed them to chlorinated water or other chemicals, while we might not immediately kill them, the environmental stressor could compromise the mudpuppies ability to fend off pathogens. We would treat their symptoms, but If we didn’t determine our water quality issue, we’d wouldn’t eliminate the ultimate cause of the problem; we’d be unable to maintain a healthy population of mudpuppies. At ECHO when we treat animals for illnesses, we scrutinize our animal husbandry to ensure that we are providing the best possible environment for the collection.

The stewardship we apply to our captive collection, is the kind of stewardship that benefits the Lake. When chemicals are applied to address an issue, when we manipulate a system, we have to scrutinize the “husbandry” of the entire system, the entire Lake, to ensure we are providing the best possible environment for all of the Lake and the Basin. At ECHO we maintain clear, clean water in our displays to ensure the health of the collection. In the Lake, at times the water and the issues are murky, we don’t always know what goes on “Below the Surface.”

Softshell Turtles - Neonates arrive at ECHO

It's fall in Vermont. You can tell by the snow, that in most other parts of the nation comes in the winter. You can also tell because the Eastern Spiny Softshell turtles that hatched a little late in the season have arrived at ECHO.

Each year, Steve Parren, the Coordinator of Vermont Fish and Wildlife's Natural Heritage and Non-Game program, monitors the beaches where softshell are known to lay eggs. Any eggs or hatchlings that Steve finds late in the hatching season are collected and transferred to ECHO for 'over-wintering.


More than thirty baby turtles arrived on October 14th, each not much bigger than a quarter.

They'll be kept at ECHO until sometime in June when they'll be released where they were found.

Spiny softshell are a threatened species in the state of Vermont. Come down to ECHO, meet these guys and learn what you can do to ensure their survival in the Lake during one of the animal encounters with animal care staff Tessa and Brian.

Turtle acquisitions

What would you do if you managed a captive collection of wildlife in a zoo, museum or nature center and someone contacted you, someone who illegally acquired a wild animal that they no longer wanted.

Would you take it into the collection?

What if it was an endangered species in your state or the state where it was collected?

If you acquire it, are you encouraging illegal and potentially problematic animal collection from the wild? If you don't acquire it, what happens to the specimen?

Is acquiring it and thereby avoiding its possible unadvised release into the wild the best decision? Its release could mean certain death for the specimen if out of it's normal range. Its release could mean the introduction of a new species to an area, or could lead to the introduction of new pathogens or new genetics to an existing wild population?

What would you do?