It's that time of year where drivers need to be a bit more cautious while driving around Cambridge. Turtles are on the move.
The little shelled creatures are out in full force looking for mates, food and a place to lay their eggs. Conservation experts at rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge are calling for drivers and those who see any turtles to act with compassion towards the aquatic animal.
“With the increase of new roads due to new development, turtles have to travel further to find breeding, nesting, and over-wintering sites,” said Alissa Fraser, conservation technician at rare to CambridgeToday.
Drivers have been posting about their experience finding these turtles on social media to warn others to be careful when seeing a turtle crossing the road or if they happen across a nest.
"Just a heads up, please pay extra attention to objects on the road over the next few days," wrote a concerned resident on Facebook. "I escorted a total of two turtles off the road today while another kind lady escorted one and transported another to Guelph, but sadly it had passed."
Fraser mentioned that with urban development encroaching into the turtles' natural habitat, the displaced snapping and painted turtles are finding refuge by the sides of road which can be a perilous and unforgiving home.
Rare launched a turtle project in 2017 and responds to calls from the community about turtles who have been killed, nests that have been found or stubborn turtles who refuse to leave the road. Risk areas have been identified as road shoulders, trails, driveways, volleyball courts, or playgrounds.
Since the project launched over 7,000 hatchlings have been released into the wild
While some Cambridge residents seem more receptive to stop and help, others think that drivers stopping could create accidents on the roads.
"If you cause an accident by stopping suddenly and someone hits you because you want to save a turtle you get charged. I won’t go out of my way to run over one, but I’m certainly not pulling over or stopping to save one. It’s a turtle!! Might seem heartless and cruel but it’s reality," wrote one user.
Another way for the community to get involved and help save the turtles is by building "nest protectors."
These will sit on top of a nest to protect the eggs from predators and allow other members of the community to know there is a nest at the location and to tread lightly.
With rare's incubator capacity limited at 2,000 eggs, these nest protectors help save valuable space, while allowing amateur conservationists to help in their efforts to save the local turtle population.
If a nest is found that is at risk from human impacts, the sites can be marked and reported to rare’s turtle hotline at 226-962-6885.
For more information about the rare turtle project, visit here.
