Turtle Rescue

[kfergos]

I rescued a turtle from certain roadkillitude yesterday. The little thing was crawling directly across a big, fast road. I just had to stop, pick it up, and carry it to a safe place far from the dangers of high-speed cars. It felt good to help one turtle, at least, avoid becoming a hapless victim of a 4-ton piece of steel.

If it had been a squirrel, that's a whole different story. Squirrels and chipmunks have a fighting chance; they can at least theoretically dart quickly out of the way. But when your self-defense mechanism involves freezing and pulling into a shell, you're doomed from the outset.

[wildhawk]

That little turtle is one lucky fellow!! Thank you for caring about him. DH and I have rescued turtles on numerous occasions - even a soft-shell turtle from our busy roadways here in Florida. We have also rescued an injured redtail hawk and an opossum. I am amazed at how much wildlife can adapt to encroaching human habitat, but every now and then they definately need our help - good deed for the day!!!

[lph]

awww. good for you, kfergos. We don't have turtles but we do have little bumbling hedgehogs. They're a bit faster but not much, and I always try to shoo them off into the undergrowth when I catch them trundling along our local small roads at night.

[Blueberry]

Awww...thank you for rescuing the turtle. I have a soft place in my heart for box turtles - LOVE them! Unfortunately, the only 2 I've seen recently, I was too late to help:(

CA

[squirrell]

Reminded me about what happened on one of my rides a couple weeks ago.

I was about 3/4 of a way through a 25 mile ride that had been mostly into a steady 13mph head wind--and I was on my Hybrid bike :(

I had finally turned the corner and had the wind at my back and was zipping along about 15mph when I passed what I thought was an upturned turtle on the side of the road. I went by so fast that I only got a quick glance. It didn't really occur to me for a second or two what it was--then I thought "well, it's gotta already be dead, so why go back" so I kept pedaling.

I got about 1.5 miles down the road and just was racked with guilt! I had to go back. Of course, that meant heading INTO the wind again for that 1.5 miles.

Finally got to where I had spotted it, got off the bike, walked over to help that poor upturned turtle and discovered that ...

it was a mushroom. :D

[emily_in_nc]

it was a mushroom. :D

Oh squirrell, I loved your story. It totally sounds like something I would do. Thank you for trying to help the poor, defenseless fungus! :D

(and just think...bonus miles!!! :rolleyes:)

[GLC1968]

Good for you!

I actually once made my DH go back and help a turtle after he'd already rescued it. He'd seen it crossing the road (as did I) and he stopped to help it. But instead of putting it on the side of the road the turtle was facing, he put it back where it had come from (because it was closer and there was traffic on the other side). When I found out, I yelled at him and made him go back. Sure enough, little turtle was already closer to the road again than where he had left him. He wanted to get to the other side for some reason and wasn't about to let some stupid human cyclist deter him!

Moral of the story? When helping a turtle cross the road, always help him get to his destination and do NOT put him back where he started! :D

[sundial]

I brake for turtles too. :) Yesterday I rescued a mole. It looked so lost and I think it must have lost it's sense of smell because it couldn't find anywhere to dig and disappear. So I helped it find a safer place with some known mole tunnels. :o

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Here's a post where I posted a photo of "Tiny", whom I rescued off the road too:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showpost.php?p=343821&postcount=1
I kept him for 2 weeks and fed him LOTS of worms. Then I released him in a huge pond a couple of miles from where I found him, with many others of his kind. (I couldn't release him where I had found him since it was a major road with surrounding suburban-ish neighborhood, with no water near it at all as far as I could see. )

So supposedly Tiny is happy and safe now.

[Kvixen23]

Were you riding or driving?? I've jumped out of my big, fast piece of steel to help the turtle across the street......I just can't bear the thought of them being squished!!!

Thanks for making me feel a little less insane:)

[Biciclista]

wow, all you turtle rescuers are heroes!

i rescued a 20 dollar bill on thursday, does that count? :D

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Were you riding or driving??

If you mean me, I was riding.


wow, all you turtle rescuers are heroes!

i rescued a 20 dollar bill on thursday, does that count? :D

Only if you give it to a Turtle Rescue Squad.