Turtles on Roads Signifies Approaching Summer

The Gregorian calendar may be the preferred method for normal people to keep track of the changing seasons, but I have come to rely on more natural methods to determine what time of year it is. It just works better for me than a calendar arbitrarily divided into days and months and seasons.

When, for example, I hear the ancient croaking of the first Sandhill cranes after a long winter, I know that we have turned the corner and spring is well and truly nigh. Likewise, when the common goldeneyes show up on the St. Croix River in late autumn, there is no doubt that full-on winter is right behind them. 

When the sound of cicadas fill the air, I know it is high summer, and when chickadees hang around the chopping block, unafraid while I split firewood, I know that it is mid-winter hunger that has made them bold.

Along the same lines, when the first turtle crosses a road in our area…well, there is no surer sign I know that summer is inexorably arriving.

Calendars may be woefully inefficient predictors of the season, but turtles know.

Since turtles are reptiles, and therefore cold-blooded, they must wait until warm temperatures allow them the mobility they need to nest. Now is that time. Things may be a bit behind schedule this year because of the cold spring, but for the next few weeks turtles of all shapes and sizes will be out in abundance on our highways and byways.

When they sense the time is right, turtles will travel impressive distances to lay their eggs. The threatened Blanding’s turtle, for example, may travel a mile or more and cross several roads in the process of finding a suitable nest site. This, of course, makes them very susceptible to roadway mortality.

Just this past week, our family has noticed turtles out and about all through our area. In one short stretch of I-94 we saw several painted turtles dodging traffic—if you can use “dodging” in the same sentence as turtle. I have little doubt that those turtles did not survive their crossing attempts, and it made me sad to abandon them to their fates. But, while I can and do regularly assist turtles in their efforts to cross roadways, I will not brave Sunday afternoon interstate traffic, and I don’t recommend you do either.

By all means, if it’s safe to do so, you can pick up a turtle and carry it to the side of the road it was facing. (If it’s a snapping turtle, you are best advised to let it bite down on a stick before attempting to move it.) And you can feel good about doing so, even if you don’t know what species you are helping. Wisconsin has 12 species of turtles, and five of those are species of concern in our state; three are endangered.

Turtles mature quite slowly and can live long lives. Most you find on the road are females traveling to find drier habitat to lay their eggs. Highway mortality is a significant factor in declining turtle populations in Wisconsin. They deserve better than to be run down on our roads when most of the time it is so easily avoided.

Turtles may not be as beautiful and glamorous as songbirds, or black bears, but they are every bit as important to our wild landscape as any other creature. When you think about it, being a turtle, or any reptile in Wisconsin for that matter, is a tough way to make a living. Long winters leave precious little time for important things like eating and procreation. Anything you can do to help is worthwhile, even if it just means slowing down a bit in likely turtle habitat.

Note: Willow River State Park offers a turtle education program for Hudson elementary students. More information can be found at the park's website.