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DIGHTON - Students at Bristol County Agricultural High School are putting their wildlife management skills to the test as they work on a new, hands-on project to protect and conserve a threatened species of turtle.

Sophomores in Natural Resource Management are "head-starting" 72 baby Blanding's turtles (emydoidea Blanding), a semi-aquatic turtle that lives in wetlands. It is considered a threatened species in many states, including Massachusetts.

"Head-starting" is a process in which young animals are kept warm, awake and fed during a normally dormant period. This helps the turtles, which don't usually grow during hibernation, to more quickly reach a 'safe size' associated with higher survival rates.

"The process is getting them past the most vulnerable stage, and then their survivability is much greater when they're released," said Brian Bastarache, the head of the Natural Resource Management Division, who's been teaching at Bristol Aggie more than 15 years.

The project is a cooperative effort among the school, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Oxbow Associates Inc., a private wildlife consulting firm in Boxboro. The Blanding's Turtle can live to be 80 years old and its distinguishing feature is a bright yellow neck and chin. Adults typically grow to 10-12 inches.

Bastarache says that the Blanding's turtle populations have experienced severe declines due mostly to habitat loss from development, females being hit by cars as they cross roads in search of a nesting place, and predators, such as skunks, raccoons and foxes, attacking nests.

"Many times every single egg laid in a turtle population, will be eaten by a nest predator," said Bastarache.

The turtles at Bristol Aggie, now about 4 centimeters, are expected to grow to 5 to 6 inches before the spring, which is like putting "five years growth on them in one year", says Bastarache.

In the meantime, students are busy caring for their charges. In addition to feeding them, the students must check and record the air, water, and basking temperature twice a day and weigh and measure each turtle weekly.

The turtles will be released in the spring on U.S. Fish and Wildlife property to reestablish a population. The location is top secret because Blandings are considered a rare species that is popular on the black market.

Laura Calverley covers Rehoboth for The Sun Chronicle. She can be reached at lcalverley@aol.com.