It’s a critical time for New Brunswick’s turtles.
You might have noticed the slow-moving critters nesting along our roads with the arrival of the warm weather.
Turtle Patrol’s Paul Turbitt says right now females are laying their eggs to give life to the next generation.
He explains it’s important to keep them safe as it takes turtles 16 to 20 years to reach sexual maturity in our province.
Turbitt says their biggest threat is cars, as they usually nest along the side of the road.
“It’s a critical time. A lot of time females get injured at this time. Road strikes are a primary concern,” Turbitt tells our newsroom. “Turtles get hit by cars and so we have to be very vigilant.”
He adds turtles are often attracted to the gravel along our roads because their eggs will draw on moisture from the earth and also expel it. Turtles also enjoy the warmth of the pavement in the summer sun.
The only problem, these areas are usually along routes where cars whip by.
What to do if you spot a turtle?
Turbitt has many tips to help get turtles to safety if you spot them crossing the street.
He says whatever you do to help, the priority has to be keeping them in line with their direction of travel.
Turbitt adds you don’t want to just return them to the water nearby. The turtle has likely left her home to find the perfect spot to lay her eggs, so you’ll want to help her get there.
However, he warns snapping turtles do require special attention as they could grab your fingers if you try to intervene. They’re intimidating creatures weighing as much as 34 kilograms paired with heavy, spiked tails and large, armoured shells.
“The reason they snap is they’ve developed too small of a shell, they cannot fit their head and tail and feet all inside of their shell, like other turtles can. So their defence mechanism is to snap,” Turbitt explains.
“The way to deal with them is, if you can herd them gently across the road, or if you can get behind them, and lift them by the upper shell … and kind of wheel-barrel them along in the direction they were going, that’s the safest.”
He adds if you’re nervous at all when you see a turtle, you can grab its shell by the tail, and slide a hand under them, moving them forward.
How to move a snapping turtle. (CREDIT: Nature Conservancy of Canada)
That way you’re far away from their head and reduce the potential for a bite from the powerful jaws and sharp snouts of a snapper.
“Snappers have a deceptively long neck, they can reach about halfway back up their body,” Turbitt warns.
Another tip is grabbing a mat from the floor of your car and using it to drag the turtle to a safe spot.
Meantime, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has launched a campaign to help the turtles, releasing a video with tips on how to get them across the street.
Turbitt cautions the priority as outlined by the Department of Natural Resources is to get an adult turtle to safety. You do not need to interfere with their nests, and if you do see one has been dug up by a predator, a raccoon is a likely culprit.
The depth of nests depends on the maturity of the turtle, as she can only dig down as deep as her legs stretch.
However, Turbitt explains you can protect a turtle’s offspring by coming to the rescue after a road strike.
He says by bringing a hurt, or even dead turtle, to a rehabilitation centre, they can rescue the eggs.
“In the case that they may die, they can harvest the eggs, and typically incubate them,” Turbitt says. “Just because you see a turtle, and it may be injured or it may even be dead, that doesn’t mean it may be the end of that turtle. If it can get to wildlife rehab. That turtle may live on in her offspring.”
Turbitt adds you’ll want to keep note of the location where you found the turtle as its offspring will need to be returned there when they leave the rehabilitation centre.
“You can’t just take turtles and move them from watershed to watershed. They may not have the natural immunities that their ancestors have provided them in their own watershed,” Tutbitt says.
Snapping Turtles are a long-lived species, reaching 70 years of age or older.
Why turtles are important
Two turtle species in New Brunswick are endangered, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, including the Loggerhead sea turtle and leatherback sea turtle.
Wood turtles are listed as threatened while snapping turtles and the Eastern painted turtle are of special concern.
According to the NCC, only two eggs out of 100 become adult turtles.
Meantime, Turbitt reminds us we have to protect these shelled critters as they’ve been on the planet for millions of years, helping our waters. He says you should never hurt them.
“They provide a valuable service in that they clean the water, they keep pathways open in the water, they eat the cane vegetation in the water, they increase the oxygen levels in the water … better oxygen means better fish habitat,” Turbitt says. “There are a lot of people that I have heard stories of that will catch and kill a turtle because they think they are hard on fish. They are not hard on fish, they are a fish’s friend.”
Snapping turtles also eat much of the bacteria in the water which can result in swimmer’s itch, a skin rash caused by an allergic reaction to certain parasites.
Turtle Patrol volunteers range from guardians who keep an eye on turtles and nests in their community to patrollers who explore areas where turtles frequent. They keep a record of their numbers and nests.
Turbitt leaves us with their motto: “Saving tomorrow’s turtles today.”
With files from Brad Perry.
