PSA: It's turtle nesting season

With spring upon us, just a heads-up to keep your eyes open for jaywalking chelonians. They're out looking for nesting sites, and they are notoriously bad about crossing roads without looking both ways first.

If you find one, please just pick it up and move it to safety in the direction it was headed. If you move it back where it came from, it will just turn around after you leave and continue on its way. If it's a big snapper, you can safely pick it up by grabbing the shell above the rear legs; do not grab it by the tail, as you can injure the turtle.

If it's this guy (girl?), maybe just leave it be:

I just saw the first turtle of the season in our garden a couple mornings ago.  Went inside for a few minutes and when I came back out there were TWO turtles.  Apparently one was getting a better look from atop the back of the other one.  

I came across 2 jaywalking turtles on my last road trip. It kind surprised me. Wasn't expecting that. 

FYI when you pick one up there's a fair chance it'll pee, as it's part of their defense mechanism. So if it's not a snapper, have its face towards you. 
 

If it is a snapper, just keep it closer toward the ground so it doesn't get all over you. :-)

I stopped to get one off of the road a couple weeks ago. I passed it and doubled back. It was already gone. Someone had punted it  before I got back.

There were a couple of studies done a few years ago that found ~6% of drivers intentionally run over turtles and snakes in the road. WTF is the matter with people? I'll go out of my way to move a turtle off the road. If I die prematurely, it will probably be because I got run over while moving one.

@2% of the general population are psychopaths/sociopaths. There's a reason corporal punishment runs right along societal development for millenia.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I stopped to get one off of the road a couple weeks ago. I passed it and doubled back. It was already gone. Someone had punted it  before I got back.

years ago I stopped to move a turtle. Pulled over, got out of the car, and was walking towards it.  shiny happy person swerved onto the shoulder right in front of me to squash it flat and make me leap for safety. 

Been doing this for years. This girl was crossing a dirt trail in a park, but we helped her our anyhow after a short photo opportunity. 

Also: Please do not assume that the turtle wants to be in the water! Not all shelled friends are aquatic, so if they're on the land and need to be relocated, relocate them to land.

Nicole Suddard said:

Also: Please do not assume that the turtle wants to be in the water! Not all shelled friends are aquatic, so if they're on the land and need to be relocated, relocate them to land.

This^^^^^^^^^ - There was an internet story going around a while back about a young girl who was rescuing box turtles by throwing them into a pond so they could swim away.     After a while someone realized what she was doing and stopped her from drowning turtles.

On a happier note, I escorted this guy (or girl - I did not inquire) across the road earlier this evening. He was quite intent on doing it himself, so I just walked along with him until he was safely on the other side. It's a small back road with little traffic, so there wasn't much danger, but it was starting to get dark and I wanted to know for sure.

jharry3 said:

Nicole Suddard said:

Also: Please do not assume that the turtle wants to be in the water! Not all shelled friends are aquatic, so if they're on the land and need to be relocated, relocate them to land.

This^^^^^^^^^ - There was an internet story going around a while back about a young girl who was rescuing box turtles by throwing them into a pond so they could swim away.     After a while someone realized what she was doing and stopped her from drowning turtles.

 

That reminds me, when I was in vet school I pulled a gopher tortoise (a burrowing upland species here in Florida) out of the water on a fast outgoing tide while surf fishing at Matanzas inlet. 
 

Edit: I wasn't clear- I was fishing at the edge of the inlet and the tortoise was about to be swept out into the ocean. 
 

I took it back to school, turned it over to the wildlife department. 
 

I wondered how it ended up there. It never occurred to me that someone might have thought they were doing a good thing by throwing it in the water. 

This morning's bike ride was rife with inconveniently-located turtles needing repositioning.

First was this guy, a snapper, less than a year old by my estimation.

A bit later, I came across this painted turtle lurking near the edge of the pavement. He just required a nudge to get back to the safety of the grass. He was apparently not pleased by my efforts to save him from being run over, judging by the look he was shooting me.

Finally, just a few yards down the trail, I came across this little guy, also a snapping turtle. Hard to tell from the photo, but he was tiny, probably no more than a week or two old. He too was moved safely to the edge of the underbrush.

Not pictured is the rather large timber rattlesnake I passed without stopping for photographs or relocation.

I hit a turtle a couple years ago in heavy fog in my Cayman. Thought I hit a brick. Bent my rim a little, flattened the berkeley out of the poor guy.

The town has since put a fence on both sides of the road and a turtle tunnel under the road with a turtle counter so the little guys can get to both marshes with out going on the road.

While doing some minor repairs to the seats of a spam-posting paddle-powered boat in my backyard, I noticed a turtle laying eggs.

After it departed a crow landed and poked it's head in the hole. I scared it away.  It had pulled an egg from the nest.

Sadly, the egg was damaged with a hole to the yoke.

Crows got to live too, so I returned the crow's prize to the yard, then lightly covered the remaining eggs.