After a dry spell, we got a very welcome rain today. I spent the afternoon out in the garden planting sweet potato slips and getting bean beds ready. The saturated soil was perfect for weed-pulling so I took care of weeding a largish bed that I hadn't mulched yet this year. By the time I came in the house late this afternoon, I was stiff from bending and heavy lifting, very tired and caked with mud. After a soak in a hot bath, I decided I could legitimately put on my nightgown and housecoat as I wouldn't be going outside again today. I had started making dinner when my phone rang.
"Mom, there's a big turtle in the road and I'm afraid it will get run over if I leave it there. I was going to move it but I think it's a snapping turtle and I'm scared of it! What do I do?" This was daughter Anne on her way home from work at the gym. She and the turtle were just a few yards away from an intersection with a busy highway and at that time of day there are quite a few cars turning on our road. She was right to think that turtle was doomed unless it moved quickly and was somehow brought to safety.
"I'll be there in less than 10 minutes. See if you can park your car to protect the turtle." Without stopping to dress (I was fully dressed, just a bit unorthodoxly), I grabbed a long-handled pitchfork from the garden tools, hopped in the car and headed down the road. I didn't meet any cars on my way there and was glad to see both Anne and the turtle were safe when I pulled up.
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| Headed for danger |
The turtle was near a creek and was obviously just trying to get to the creek on the other side (but why via the road instead of going under the road through the culvert? Turtle minds are a mystery). Of course, the minute I got out of the car and was ready to begin action, cars started turning onto the road. No one stopped to ask what in the world was going on but I'm sure they wondered at an older woman wearing her housecoat and wielding a pitchfork in the middle of the road!
I was able to get the pitchfork carefully under the turtle and gently lift it and carry it to the other side of the road. There is a steep ditch there so I had to walk it a little way to where I could set it down safely but still close enough to the creek so that the turtle will hopefully get him/herself back to the water and safety. Mission accomplished. It wasn't the largest snapping turtle I've ever seen but it was probably about 12-15 lbs. I'm sure the turtle was somewhat traumatized by being carried but certainly not as traumatized as it would be if a pickup ran over it.
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| Now for a gentle let-down |
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| Safe in a bed of grass |
In all my years in the country I have rescued quite a few turtles from imminent doom on the road. I've had to get creative when I didn't have the pitchfork handy. Sometimes it's been a softshell turtle, sometimes a box turtle, sometimes a painted turtle. Those are all far easier to rescue because they are harmless. I have great respect for snapping turtles and their ability to lunge and snap, especially on land where they feel threatened. Anne was right to exercise caution with this one. We've had many snapping turtles here in our own creek behind the barn and sometimes I've removed them (hence my experience wielding the pitchfork to lift and carry) and relocated them because kids play in the creek. Snapping turtles won't attack unless they are threatened but still...a child stepping on or near them might be perceived as a threat.
Snapping turtles are amazing creatures that can live to 100 years or more. They are holdovers from prehistoric times. Hopefully this one will live long and prosper. And stay off the road!
