Should you help turtles cross the road?

As spring makes way for summer, various types of wildlife can be spotted roaming the area and crossing local roads. Among them are a wide range of turtles, though they're likely moving much slower than their fellow creatures in the wild.

The combination of a turtle's need to move and it's very slow pace often leads to unfortunate consequences when it reaches a busy road like Highway 25 or 412. The presence of a speeding vehicle does nothing to hinder their need to reach their destination, and they often roam right into the vehicle's path.

Missouri Department of Conservation agent Eric Heuring says it's a common sight all over the state during this part of the year.

"Basically, it's because it's the part of the year were things are starting to warm up, so your aquatic turtle and terrestrial turtles are going to be on the move," Heuring explained.

"A lot of the times, the turtles you see moving around are going to be your terrestrial males looking for new territory of course for themselves. Unfortunately, there are times where they get in the roadways and the unfortunate happens to them for being in the roadway."

Heuring says there are several different species of turtles all over the Bootheel, including box turtles like the three toed and ornate, plus aquatic turtles like the red-eared slider.

Different species have different reasons for being on the move, whether it's males looking for new territories or females looking for a place to nest. Others will make their way to blacktop or concrete to simply bask in the sun on cooler mornings.

"They do that same thing on the logs out in the lakes in different places," Heuring said. "Any warm surface they can get--being a cold-blooded animal--if they can keep their system up, they're going to do that and take advantage of it."

Sometimes it may be possible to help out a turtle that's trying to make it across the road, but Heuring urges you to take certain precautions before doing so.

"If you're out in a rural area where there's no one around or anything like that--if it's not a high traffic area--I think it will be alright if a person uses the right precautions as far as cleaning their hands and knowing what kind of turtle that is before they pick it up," he explained.

"If people don't know the difference in the species, I'd be very, very cautious of trying to help one across the road."

Aside from the danger of pulling over on a busy road with little room on the shoulder, putting hands on a snapping turtle could prove very painful. That's why it's best to be aware of the differences between species' before reaching out to help.

"A lot of times the snapping turtles will be a lot larger than the other species," he added. "Any turtles out there will bite when trying to defend themselves. A lot of the aquatic turtles are shy and they're going to tuck in (to their shell), but your bigger ones like the soft shell and your snapping turtle--of course they're not hesitant on defending themselves. Unfortunately, all they've got is a mouth to defend themselves."

The Humane Society urges the public not to try to bring the turtle home. Instead, it's best to help it move in the direction it is headed and leave it in the wild. If you turn the turtle around and place on the side from which it came, it likely will turn around and keep trying to cross the road with hopes of reaching it's destination.

Removing it from the wild completely could also do further damage to the habitat, and turtles tend to struggle in captivity. Plus, bringing home a wild turtle also raises the aforementioned risk of salmonella poisoning.

"I know people try to help those guys across to the side of the road," Heuring added. "I would just reiterate on washing your hands, making sure things are clean and making sure the area is safe before stopping along the edge of the roadway and trying to help something like that out."