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It slipped by me last week. I should know better. May 23 is World Turtle Day.
I have long been a fan of turtles. Most of them are pretty easy to get along with. And they are fun to watch, although maybe not overly active.
Turtles are starting to get pretty active at the moment. It will soon be time for them to start trying to find places to lay eggs. Which can always make things a bit interesting.
I’ve been seeing them around for a few weeks. A bit over a week ago I say seven turtles sitting on one rock, catching a bit of sun. Although tot he turtles, it’s probably catching the heat more so than the rays. But for creatures that tend to be fairly solitary, it’s fun to see them crowded on one little spot.
This past weekend, I even saw a fairly large snapping turtle sitting on a rock. You don’t tend to see them doing that a lot, but this one seemed to be enjoying sunning himself.
I’ve been seeing them around, so I knew it would soon start. As I was sitting enjoying a bit of sun myself along a sandy stretch of lakeshore, I kept a check on the water. Sure enough, a head popped up, scouting out possible egg laying locations.
One thing that confuses me with turtles, they will carefully check a spot of shoreline. If anything moves, they will not try to lay eggs. If they start up on shore and something moves, they’ll will run back to the safety of the water. And yet at some point they throw caution to the wind and will try to cross some of the busiest roads around. Go figure.
But that crossing of the roads can lead to trouble, and not just for turtles. You don’t hear about it much around here, but every year people are hurt by flying turtles. A turtle gets hit by a car, and, because of the shape of the shell, will squirt out and go flying, often crashing through windows of nearby cars.
And moving them off the roads can be a bit dangerous as well. If you try it, keep them going in the direction they were headed. If you don’t, they will probably try again. And if you try to move a snapping turtle, be careful. Their heads can reach almost to their hind legs. Picking them up by the sides might not work out well. Unless you like having a turtle attached to your arm.
But it is getting to that time of year when turtles will walk amoung us. Try to look out for them.
