I’ve been disheartened to fail to be in the right place at the right time to save the lives of several turtles this year. The only good news is that there were fewer dead turtles and frogs on the road this year than last in my neck of the woods. So when Shawn Orbanic sent me an email late last week telling me of his extraordinary turtle rescue, I was overjoyed. And the most amazing aspect of his story is that he was able to save 17 snapping turtle hatchlings. I’ll leave Shawn to tell the story:

 
Back on June 8 I came across this large mother snapping turtle laying her eggs on the edge of the parking lot at my office. (The office is right next to a river and you cross the river to enter it.) This is the second time I’ve caught her laying eggs in the last 4 years. So, I marked my calendar to start watching for the hatchlings between 80 and 90 days later. This morning as I was walking in I found a hatchling making his way across the parking lot—in the wrong direction! So, I picked him up to move him to the river, and quickly found another, and another (the third one had succumbed to the 54-degree weather). I moved them down the bank to the river and the two survivors quickly swam away. When I got back up the bank I found three more wandering around the lot. I grabbed a box and started searching the entire area around the nest. In the end I found a total of 15 and only the one had died. All were released to the river and swam off or immediately took to hiding in the rocks.

 
Later in the day, Shawn wrote again to say he’d found three more hatchlings looking for the river, and he gave them a lift, as well, bringing his total to 17 little snappers given a new lease on life. Shawn shot photos of the mother snapper in June, and then of her children late last week. Some of the photos are a bit blurry because he used a cell phone camera, but the message comes through loud and clear—these youngsters would likely have died if Shawn hadn’t been on the look-out for them and lent a helping hand.

 
Here’s the mother snapper laying eggs on the lawn:

 
It’s hard work being a turtle, and even snappers are vulnerable when laying eggs.

 
Nothing much deters her, and her efforts are rewarded with the hatching of her children:

 
It’s a wet morning, and the babies are still covered in mud from digging out of the ground. Look how tiny they are:

 
They’re keen, though, and are looking forward to beginning their lives out in the river:

 
Here are others waiting for their taxi ride to the river, courtesy of Shawn:

 
Safe at last, the hatchlings are in their natural element:

 
Of course, the natural world presents plenty of risks and hazards for young turtles, but with luck, these hatchlings will live to a ripe old age. They’ve gotten a good start.

 
Learn more about how to be a turtle taxi by reading our tips in “Help Turtles Cross Roads.” Thanks go out to Shawn Orbanic for saving the turtles and for letting us all share in the pleasure. And what about you? Have you saved any turtles lately? Send us your story and some photos if you can, and we’ll include them to our “Turtle Portrait Gallery.”

 
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It’s a busy time for turtles. Mothers are laying eggs, hatchlings from the previous season are breaking free of their shells, digging themselves to the surface, and making the perilous journey from nest to the shelter of water or thick vegetation. As we all know, many turtles don’t make it. Natural predators take their toll, but no threat is as great as that of our motor vehicles. When turtles need to cross our roads, chances are they’ll be crushed outright or maimed to suffer an agonizing, lingering death. That’s why I’m determined to spread the word and encourage everyone to become a Turtle Taxi. I’m happy to say that the word is getting out.

Lisa Hammersla of South Carolina remembered what she’d read here at Outside Up North about giving turtles a lift when she recently saved this terrapin from an almost certain death on a busy Beaufort highway:

 
Lisa stopped her car and gave the terrapin a lift to the safety of a marsh on the side, taking she in the direction she wanted to go. As it happened, a beautiful rainbow glistened over the wetland as the terrapin attempted her crossing under a “Terrapin Crossing” sign. Thanks, Lisa, for saving the terrapin’s life and for sending us her portrait!

 
I’m pleased to report a turtle save on a bike ride I took earlier in the week. As I cruised down an unusually busy country road I saw what appeared to be a pebble in my path. I adjusted my line, and as I got close realized it wasn’t a pebble. It was a hatchling snapping turtle:

 
He was a feisty little fellow, kicking at my fingers with his sharp little claws and opening his mouth to hiss at me. A hatchling snapper like this one can safely be lifted as shown in the photo above. Larger snappers require a special technique when lifting them—read how in “Help Turtles Cross Roads.”

The traffic was picking up and the place where the snapper was heading was unsafe because of aggressive dogs and sterile lawns. I zipped him securely into my rack trunk, where he wandered around exploring for the half-mile I carried him to the edge of a wetland.

 
He’s already eager to get onto the ground and on his way. I placed him in the tall grasses and wildflowers, and he quickly scooted to safety in the shadows of overhanging vegetation.

 
Then news came to me from Japan expert, Bob Angel, who’s a keen saver of turtles in his own right. He found an article in a Japanese newspaper which astonished me. Go to the article entitled “Turtle Gets Prosthetic Legs” in The Asahi Shumbun for the full (though brief) story, and if you want to see a photo, check out the Japanese language version of the article. A Ridley’s sea turtle who had badly injured front legs because of a shark attack has been fitted with prosthetics. So far tests appear to indicate that the turtle will be able to cope in the wild in a year or two. Let’s hope so! Thanks to Bob for this pointer. Incidentally, Bob’s blog, Mobile Studio Travels of the Japan Considered Project, is always a good read as he describes his kayak and hiking explorations in South Carolina and points distant.

 
Sea turtles found their way into another publication this week. Barney Ward writes Old Fat Man Adventures most days, chronicling what’s going on wherever his explorations have found him. While fishing and exploring Flour Bluff, Texas, this week, he caught sight of sea turtles not far offshore. Barney patiently shot frame after frame before catching a terrific photo of a turtle surfacing for air. Read about it and see his excellent picture in “The Critter Home.”

 
Turtles are remarkably well equipped to survive in a hostile world. But however smart, alert, and strong a turtle is, she or he is no match against a cruel human or a motor vehicle. Even dogs can do harm to turtles. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to “Help Turtles Cross Roads.”

 
Have you saved a turtle from being hit by cars? Do you have a story or pictures to share? Just send us an email and we’ll publish your comments and turtle pictures in our “Turtle Portrait Gallery.”

 
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