Slow, Steady, Endangered: CT Turtles Hit Heavy Traffic On Way To Nests

CONNECTICUT — Aesop believed that slow and steady wins the race, but the storyteller's tortoise clearly did not grow up in Connecticut. Turtles here are getting hammered by traffic as they increasingly try, and fail, to cross the roads.

Connecticut is home to 12 turtle species, including four types of sea turtle. May through July is the nesting season for many of the species, the months when pregnant females hit the highway looking for a soft, sunny spot to lay their eggs.

Unlike other reptiles, turtles don't give birth to a large number of offspring in a single brood. Instead, their reproductive strategy is dependent on adult turtles surviving for a long period of time and breeding over and over again, according to Brian Hess, a wildlife biologist with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

"So anything in the environment that's killing adult turtles, particularly adult female turtles, has a real potential to impact them at a population level," said Hess.

In Connecticut, it's cars that are killing the turtles, as they make their excruciatingly slow way across the state's roadways. The larger species, such as painted and snapping turtles, are maintaining their numbers. Other populations, such as the spotted turtle, wood turtle and diamondback terrapin populations are declining across their ranges, and have entered the state's list of endangered and threatened reptiles.

Biologists may never fully understand why the chicken crossed the road, but they have turtles pegged. Mother Nature drives the momma reptiles to find a sunny spot with sandy or moist soil to drop their eggs and make their nests. In Connecticut, that often entails hiking across some busy roads. It's no wonder that the turtle populations across the United States are predominantly male.

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Hess said the most humans can do to help our chelonian neighbors is to give them a lift — off the roads and away from traffic — but only when it is safe to do so, without attempting to stop traffic.

DEEP advises not trying to move the turtle to a "better spot," or turning her around to face back where she came from, as she will only attempt to cross the road again. Mother Nature may not be strong with traffic signals, but she still knows best.

Taking turtles home is also a bad idea, Hess said. Beside being illegal, "it's 'functional mortality' for that adult; if they're removed from the breeding population, they might not be dead, but according to the population that they came from, they essentially are."

Due to their longevity, any pet turtle's life that does not end in tragedy almost inevitably ends in neglect.

"A box turtle can live for 80 years," Hess said. "That's a lot longer than people want to plan for taking care of a pet." Returning a pet turtle to the wild is not a smart option as the transplanted terrapin can introduce new diseases into that local population.

Once a pregnant turtle does find just the right spot to lay her eggs — even if it's in the middle of your garden — don't expect any animal control experts from DEEP to mess with the mojo. When called upon to remove turtles from property, DEEP will instead advise residents to just be patient. Whatever fierce maternal extincts drove the pregnant turtle to trek across state to drop her eggs in your flowerbed flee, along with mom, once she lays her eggs. The eggs develop unattended over the course of the summer and hatchling turtles emerge in the early fall, and head for the water.

One benefit to a turtle's slower pace is the opportunity it affords to interact with them.

"It is really cool to see a bobcat," Hess said. "But most often you just kind of get a fleeting glimpse of it as they dash across the landscape in front of you. [Turtles] are fascinating animals, and they're ones that you can see up close."