Home News Local News Watch for turtles on roads as nesting season begins

Watch for turtles on roads as nesting season begins

June 9, 2021

By Michelle Poirier

Turtle nesting season has begun and residents are asked to keep their eyes on the road to avoid injuring female turtles that may be crossing the road on their way to lay their eggs.

Gail Lenters, the founder of Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw, said they are starting to get frequent calls about injured turtles on the road as turtle nesting season begins.

“It is turtle time, please be careful on our roads,” she said.

Ms. Lenters said turtles are laying their eggs roadside because they like the sandy gravel, they’re looking for sand and warmth.

“It’s hard to miss or not see them this time or year. If they’re crossing the road stop and help them cross the road in the direction that they’re trying to go, or encourage them to go faster to get them off the road,” she said.

Shades of Hope is a first response location that provides emergency care to injured turtles before sending them to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough.

Provincially, seven out of eight of the turtle species in Ontario are at risk; federally, all eight are labeled at risk.

“A snapping turtle has to live for 20 years before it’s even breeding age, so it’s maneuvering our roadways and landscape for many years before it’s even able to reproduce,” Ms. Lentres said.

“Some of our Ontario turtles will travel as far as seven kilometers to lay their eggs; they have a memory and GPS, something built in. They know where they want to go. Considering that distance, there is no way that turtle is not going to cross a road.”

Sutton resident Sabrina Fahselt helped a turtle cross Highway 48 on the morning of June 9.

“Once I realized it was a turtle I pulled over to the side of the road, put on my four ways and reversed back to the location of the turtle. I jumped out of my car and waved to the people going north bound to slow down,” she said.

“Once I approached the turtle, I was thankful to see it hadn’t been hit. Because on Monday, I was driving home and saw a turtle hit and killed in the same area.”

She said the turtle kept trying to bite her as she tried to help it across the road, and the traffic was starting to get backed up. But a man from another car joined her in helping the turtle cross the road in the direction it was headed.

If you come across an injured turtle, you can call Shades of Hope at (705) 437-4654 or the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre at (705) 741-5000.

For information on how you can help turtles, visit www.ontarioturtle.ca.