The Critters Venture Out – Three Critters Rescued

This weekend saw temperatures near seventy. The first hint of spring brought out all the animals. To Keith’s and my surprise, the frogs, snakes, and turtles emerged from their winter hiding. We thought for sure spring would have to settle in for a couple of weeks before these cold-blooded creatures would make their appearance.

The warmest place to be for them is on the road. The heated blacktop must feel as cozy as an electric blanket to them. Unfortunately, the warmest place to be is also the most dangerous. The carnage littering the road attested to that fact. On out trip to Cambridge, we must’ve seen a couple of dozen dead snakes and turtles, splattered by drivers who mustn’t pay much attention to what is in the road and most likely driving way too fast to avoid the animals even if they did see them. The snakes, we’re sure, were purposely targeted for slaughter.

Two times of the year are particularly depressing in Toddville: spring and fall. It’s heartbreaking enough throughout the year seeing an occasional warm-blooded animal killed by a car – a deer one day, a fox another, and a rabbit later. But every spring and fall when the nights get cold, the reptiles and amphibians seek out the road for warmth and the number of road kill grows logarithmically.

This weekend three turtles were given a second chance. On our road, we rescued two spotted turtles trying to get across. Our road isn’t a high-traffic road and they probably would’ve made it across safely on their own, but we guaranteed their safety. We released them in our newly made pond where they should be safe until they venture out again. Turtles, for some reason, aren’t happy where they are. They constantly are on the move looking for greener pastures, or, in a turtle’s world, a bigger pond or prime nesting area.

The third turtle we rescued genuinely received a second lease on life. The small turtle must’ve been crossing the road when a vehicle passed. Judging by the nick on the edge of its shell, we figured the vehicle straddled the turtle to avoid hitting it, but the wind rolled it over on its back. We found it in the middle of the road, helpless with the sun beating down on it.

As we drove it to a more secure place in the marsh, it came out of its shell, swimming in the air as if it thought it could really get out of Keith’s hand. By its feistiness, we knew it would be fine. As soon as we put it on the mud, it quickly scuttled into a shallow pool and buried itself for protection.

Keith and I are going to have a very busy spring.

© 2007
Mark Darien
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