What To Do if You See a Turtle Crossing the Road
Did you know that a box turtle only roams one mile its whole entire life? This means when you spot it, it is not very far from its home which is where it will (hopefully) live for the entirety of its life.
Maybe you've heard people say that you shouldn't move a turtle from the area in which you find it but have you ever wondered the reason why? It's not like the turtle will be sad if you move it and give it a better life, right? Wrong.
If a turtle is moved from where it's found, the poor little thing will spend the rest of its days roaming aimlessly looking for its home which adds much stress to its little self and the poor turtle will die with a broken heart. No, we're not kidding about this.
We're walking into the season when we'll begin to spot turtles out for a stroll on our local roads and while we definitely want to move the turtle away from the dangers of being crunched under the tires of a vehicle, we don't want to scoop them up and take them home to keep as a pet or move them someplace far from where you've spotted them.
If a turtle is on the road, you can help it along by moving it directly across the road in the direction it was headed and then letting it be.
Did you know that while it may seem like we see a lot of turtles on the roads around here in the springtime, especially that the Eastern box turtle, which is the most common type of box turtle has been labeled as "vulnerable?" This means that turtles are definitely a threatened species.
Turtles are adorable and fascinating, but there's so much about them most people don't even know about and if you want to get caught up on box turtles and what you can do to enhance their lives, check out the Box Turtles website.
If you find yourself in a situation where you need to help a little turtle get to the other side of the road safely, keep in mind that when you pick it up, you should gently grasp it along its shell near the edge or midpoint of its body. Also, don't be surprised if a turtle urinates on your when you pick it up, this is just what they do. By not being surprised that this might happen, you'll be careful not to drop the turtle on the ground.