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.

[emily_in_nc]

it was a mushroom.

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

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