Snapping Turtles In Maine Are Being Run Over At An Alarming Rate
It's been a couple years since I saw a snapping turtle in the middle of the road. When I did, we pulled over and got out the car. We approached the little buddy and stood nearby it to make sure no one else came along possibly hitting it. Luckily, this was on a side street near our home in Westbrook and the speed limit is 25 mph. We called animal control and they took good of the turtle. We just thought it best not to touch it and have the authorities get him out of the road. It did not appear to be injured. Many snapping turtles in Maine aren't as fortunate as the one in my neighborhood that day.
According to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, they "have admitted 49 turtles this year, of those, 39 of them were hit by cars. Of those 49 turtles, 4 died, 28 have had to be euthanized upon arrival due to their injuries, 8 have been released and 2 have been transferred."
How many times have we been cruising down the highway and seen something in the road like a tree branch, rock or bag of garbage that fell off a truck? Most of us would slow down carefully go around it, right? It is mind boggling to me that people can be so careless and run right over a turtle. Maybe these drivers think the shell will protect the turtle. Absolutely not!
Thankfully, we have a place like the Center for Wildlife to make the best of as bad situation. They would like us all to spread the word to watch out for snapping turtles on Maine roads this summer and would love it if you could make a donation to help them continue their important work.
You can view the Center for Wildlife's full Facebook post and photos here.