Not my first post about a turtle on a road but sadly this rescue might not have been in time. There’s an area nearby that is a regular crossing for the local turtles. Every year I rescue at least one turtle from traffic, but unfortunately for this one, I wasn’t able to get there before the car.
We’re currently in the car driving the hour-ish to the wildlife hospital to make sure this sweet creature gets the best of care. Thankfully it seems the bleeding has stopped and little one is more active.
Good on you for helping out! I always stop to assist with a road crossing turtle if it is safe.
Unfortunately, there’s a spot on the road not far from my house where I regularly see box turtles crossing. It’s a small clearing (maybe 20-30 yds wide) in between two heavily wooded areas that is right after a sharp bend in the road. The trees make it basically a blind turn for oncoming traffic. I’ve always wanted to stop and assist with the road crossing here but I am not looking to end up DOR also. I think the turtles cross here because of the break in the trees and use the “field” as their own little road.
Thankfully the crossing area here is on a mostly visible straight stretch, so stopping isn’t an issue and usually they make it. The problem is some people either aren’t paying attention, don’t care, assume the thing in the road is just trash, or worst of all are the people who actually try to hit things.
A little update as well: Dropped new friend off at the wildlife hospital. By the time we got there all bleeding had stopped and the turtle (I believe a male) had been walking around the transport box. The only visible injuries I could find aside the nose/mouth bleeding were some superficial plastron scrapes and one broken/dislocated toe. The wildlife hospital does give updates if you contact them after a few days, so I’ll check back and see if this guy managed to be very lucky.
Including a photo of the injured toe + our little friend exploring the box on the drive:
Those front nails/claws definitely look male to me. Glad it looks like he wasn’t too banged up. Hopefully nothing internal was damaged. Looks like that shell came in handy.
That he is! I’m really hoping that all he’s going to need is a little r & r before heading back out to spend life in the wild. I really thought when I saw him go flying he was toast, especially with the blood. When he bit the cotton swab as I tried to clean him up, though, I knew there was a fighting chance.
Absolutely crushed to report that sadly after two days in the ICU, this little dude had to be humanely euthanized as his injuries were too severe. The bleeding I’d seen was due to his beak being entirely split from jaw to nares, and he also had a dislocated leg. While this may not have been a happy outcome, at least he was given pain medication and helped to pass, instead of dying a very slow death or being hit again.
On the way home from dinner tonight I spotted this guy getting ready to cross and freaked my dad out yelling at him to turn around and go back. Snapped a quick photo before escorting him into the weeds on the other side:
Cute, but very angy. Very much showed off why they are called snapping turtles during his lift, and managed to skin one of my knuckles with a claw when I picked him up.
Oh how I wish it had been safe enough to get a photo of the absolute unit of a male snapper I saved tonight! On our way home from dinner, only a few miles North of where I helped the last one. This guy was bigger, had to have been 13" and bare minimum of 15lbs. He was in a really, really bad spot and we actually had to pull over with a sheriff behind us (sheriff passed and kept heading south) to go back for him (my dad is a saint to deal with me ). He was at a curve in the road that is also an intersection. Unbeknownst to me I had an audience, as there were three cars waiting at the intersection as I ran him across. Only noticed when I turned around to go back to our car and the first car in line shouted and waved before driving off (I assume a thanks? I couldn’t hear I was trying to be fast).
). He was at a curve in the road that is also an intersection. Unbeknownst to me I had an audience, as there were three cars waiting at the intersection as I ran him across. Only noticed when I turned around to go back to our car and the first car in line shouted and waved before driving off (I assume a thanks? I couldn’t hear I was trying to be fast).