Scientist trains her pet terrier Ridley to sniff out endangered turtle eggs buried in the sand so they can be incubated and saved

Ridley the Cairn Terrier was originally bought as a pet eight years ago

Talents were quickly realised and he was put to work to save the turtles

Eggs must be collected and incubated to increase chance of survival



This dog saves hundreds of rare sea turtles every year by sniffing out their eggs on the beach.



Ridley the Cairn Terrier was originally bought as a family pet eight years ago, but his talents were quickly realised and he was put to work to save rare sea turtles.



These turtles are endangered and the eggs must be collected and incubated to increase the species' chance of survival.

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Rescue dog: Ridley the Cairn Terriesaves hundreds of rare sea turtles every year by sniffing out their eggs on the beach. He was originally bought as a family pet eight years ago, but his talents were quickly realised and he was put to work to save the turtles

Endangered: These turtles are endangered and the eggs must be collected and incubated to increase the species chance of survival

Ridley's owner Donna Shaver, 54, from Texas, USA, is the chief of the division of sea turtle science and recovery at Padre Island National Seashore.

She has 33 years experience of working with sea turtles.



She has trained Ridley to locate the nests and eggs when they cannot be found by humans.

The eggs are then transported to the incubation unit for specialist care.



Good team: Ridley's owner Donna Shaver, 54, from Texas, USA, is the chief of the division of sea turtle science and recovery at Padre Island National Seashore

Saved: The eggs are then transported to the incubation unit for specialist care. Ridley is thought to have saved as many as hundreds of turtles throughout his career

Search: When Ridley is first brought to a site he is told to 'find the nest'. The dog understands the instructions and sniffs the sand to find the eggs

Donna said: 'We use Ridley when we can see tracks left by the female but they have disappeared in the soft sand and we cannot find the nests.



'We only take Ridley into the field a few times a year. My staff are very good at finding nests, and Ridley is only brought out after they have searched a site for hours.



'We do not want to bring him out to a lot of sites because the beach is a very harsh environment. It is quite hot and to access sites we must drive on the beach, which can be quite bumpy.



'First and foremost he is my beloved pet and we do not want any harm to come to him.'



When Ridley is first brought to a site he is told to 'find the nest'.

The dog understands the instructions and sniffs the sand to find the eggs.



When he finds the nest he stops and gently paws at the sand. Staff then carefully dig down further to determine if eggs are there.



Donna said: 'We use Ridley when we can see tracks left by the female but they have disappeared in the soft sand and we cannot find the nests'

Donna said: 'Ridley knows it is important to me to find the eggs - he has watched me work with the eggs and hatchlings since he was a young pup.



'When we bring him to a site we walk him up and down the beach where the tracks are located and where we think the nest could be. He continues to sniff.



'Sometimes there is no nest and the turtle has just come out of the sea, but by using Ridley we can be sure we do not miss any nests.'



After the eggs are found they are carefully packed into foam incubation boxes and transported to the incubation facility for protected care.



Recovered: Turtles being examined at the Padre Island National. Last year, a record 206 nests were recovered

The eggs remain in the facility for about 48-53 days prior to hatching. The hatchlings are then released on the beach and allowed to go free.



Ridley is the first dog on the team to become a fully independent searcher. There were two other dogs on the team, but neither were able to search alone.



Donna said: 'I had two other dogs that we started training, but neither became fully independent searchers.



'Unfortunately, one of those died at 22 months. After she died Ridley became despondent so we soon got another red Cairn Terrier female that we named Kayleigh.



'Kayleigh is still in training, but she has never gone to a site without Ridley. She occasionally goes with Ridley for training, but they do not work as a team.'

Donna says it is impossible to say how many turtles Ridley has saved, but thinks the number would be well into the hundreds.



Such are the efforts the number of found nests increased from 5 in 1996 to 50 in 2005.

