It was a Friday morning when I came upon the turtle.
I had left the house early, planning on arriving at
work an hour early to make up for time taken off earlier in the week.
The drive was not terribly different from any other
day, for the first mile or so. What I call a mile or so includes a major
intersection followed by a winding road and a left turn to follow Bell School
Road.
The roads deserted I made the left turn and saw, on
down the way, something dark in the roadway.
I wondered what is was as I noticed that it moved slightly. Approaching slowly it finally became clear
that the thing in the road was a fair-sized turtle. Damn.
It’s crossing where the creek runs under the road through a culvert. Why couldn’t it traverse the culvert!
I can’t simply drive around the thing,.. shortly the
road will be swarming with morning commuters who think that they can drive as
fast as they please. I travel this way
myself; twice every week day. I do not
want to see the turtle flattened and in view every day …
Since the roads are deserted here I stop the car, jump
out, and approach the creature.
“Move!” I command it, knowing that won’t help at all,
as the turtle stopped moving as soon as I stopped the car.
This turtle is not tiny – at least a foot across the shell
– this would probably damage a car with low clearance.
I reach down and start to grab and it jerks it’s head
violently and snaps! A snapping turtle, eh?
Okay then, I will need to be quick.
I grab the thing on both sides, as far back from the
head as possible, and rush to the other side of the road – the direction the turtle
was heading when I arrived. I toss it
lightly into the deep grassy vegetation on the roadside and hurry back to my
car. A school bus has just turned onto
this road and is approaching.
Quickly I get into the car, turn off the hazards, and then
I realize that my hands stink from touching a damp creature,..holding onto it
tightly, GROSS!! I try some hand
sanitizer as I drive slowly on toward the red light intersection. No, that’s not good enough; I grab 2 tissues
from the box on the passenger seat and use them to grip the steering
wheel. It’s a couple of miles to the
nearest place where I can wash my hands.
Arriving at the new QuikTrip I rush inside and thankfully the ladies
restroom is right by the side entrance – I wash my hands for several minutes,
more than once.
Arriving at work several minutes later, I immediately
go to the restroom and wash my hands again.
Oh what a stink that was!
And that is the story of the turtle. June 7, 2024
Gloves ! haha! if only there had been time for that -- or time to think about taking a picture.
Alas, there are no shoulders on that road, no place to get out of the roadway.
Sorry - no picture of the actual turtle I moved. As for size, as best as I can remember my thumbs were not close to each other when I gripped the creature, there were at least 3 or 4 inches between my thumbs, and it was not terribly heavy. I think that it was kind of shocked that I picked it up, it didn't do more than snap again as I was preparing to drop it.
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| It looked this this, but the one I moved was smaller than this. |
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