The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is urging motorists to watch out for turtles crossing roads during their peak breeding season, which begins now and will continue until roughly mid-June. Drivers should be especially aware on roads near ponds, rivers and wetlands, according to a Monday press release from the department.
“Turtles are usually slow to move, so they have a tough time safely crossing roads,” Luke Groff, a biologist with the department, said in the release.
In addition to being vigilant while driving, department officials suggest helping encountered turtles cross the street — but only when it’s safe to do so.
“If you can safely move it, please do, but also respect that that’s a wild turtle and that is where it belongs,” Groff said in an interview with VTDigger. “So we don’t collect turtles. We don’t bring them home.”
He also emphasized it’s important to make sure the turtles stay the way they were facing. “We don’t move them to what we think is a better spot. We move them across the road and trust that they know best.”
“They know where they’re going,” he noted in the release.
When helping a snapping turtle, the department advises that motorists use a shovel, piece of cardboard or a car floor mat to move them, and to err on the side of caution when trying to differentiate snappers from other species. “If the turtle is large or if it lacks colorful lines, spots, or other markings, then it may be a snapper,” according to the press release.
In addition to traversing roads, turtles are known for turning roadsides, driveways and yards into nesting sites this time of year.
“If there’s not an immediate danger to that nest, I typically recommend people leave them in place. You know, even if that’s on the fringe of your driveway, if you could just mark it, leave the nest there, that is going to always be the best thing for the turtle,” Groff said.
However, if a nest resides in a particularly vulnerable location, Groff encouraged people to contact the Department of Fish & Wildlife to help relocate it.
Groff also recommended helping the turtle hatchlings cross the street if they’re in danger of getting hit.
“If there’s a busy road between that nest and the water, then the turtle will have instincts to go to the water,” Groff said. “If there’s a road between there, you know, those hatchlings are not going to fare well. So I always recommend if people can do it, and can do it safely… to certainly give those little hatchlings a head start and a walk across the road.”
Accidents involving turtles can have serious implications for their populations if their numbers are already small. “Many turtles killed on roads are mature breeding females, so not only is the female taken from the population but so are her future offspring,” Groff said in the release.
“Turtles grow slowly and females of some species may not reproduce until 10 or even 15 years old,” he added.
Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘They know where they’re going’: Watch out for turtles on the roadways .