HALIFAX HERALD (Nova Scotia) 11 July 03 Turtles not crossing road just to get to other side - Woman carefully aids reptile moms' egg-laying efforts (John Gillis)
The proverb says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
If the traveller is only 35 centimetres long and its steps are notoriously slow, climbing a short embankment and crossing two lanes of traffic might be enough of an epic journey.
But that's the task facing mother snapping turtles around mainland Nova Scotia.
Each year around this time, pregnant turtles leave their home ponds to find suitable ground in which to dig nests and lay their eggs.
In many cases, that means crossing a busy highway.
The roads criss-crossing the land where the turtles live are both a blessing and a curse.
"They evolved before we came up with the car," said Andrew Hebda, curator of zoology at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. But "we make better nesting habitat than nature does."
He said the soft, loose gravel on the shoulders of highways is ideal for turtle nests.
Sandra Shields found a large snapping turtle planning to cross Purcells Cove Road in Halifax while walking her dachshund Franny near Frog Lake on Saturday.
Thanks to a turtle encounter 25 years ago, when she inadvertently carried one back to the start of its journey, she knew what the turtle was up to. But she was afraid this turtle wouldn't make it through the traffic whizzing around a blind curve.
She put an excited Franny back into the car and grabbed the dog's blanket. Then she laid the blanket on the ground next to the turtle and nudged it over onto its back with her foot.
She eventually got it bundled up - the turtle righted itself several times, whipping its long neck around in anger - but realized neither she nor her older dog-walking companions would be able to carry it.
Ms. Shields flagged down a passing motorist, a man on his way to a business meeting, and convinced him to help.
He carried the creature across the road and released it.
Then on Wednesday she came upon a group of people trying to prod another turtle back into Frog Lake. She urged them to let it cross the road.
They asked if she was sure the turtle knew what it was doing.
"Oh yes," she answered. "I've made that mistake before."
Mr. Hebda said he and his colleagues have had several similar reports in recent days.
He said it's probably better to leave the turtles alone than try to pick them up. They're called snapping turtles for a reason.
"They have quite a set of jaws," he said.
If it's safe to do so, the most helpful thing would be for people to stop traffic to let the turtle cross. Aside from the harm it would do the turtle, hitting a big one could do some damage to a car too, he added.
If the turtle really needs to be moved, the blanket method is probably a good way to avoid nasty bites, he said.
The idea of building turtle crossings under roads has been bandied about, but there's no guarantee the animals would use them, he said.
People should look out for turtles crossing roads for about another week.
Mr. Hebda said they won't try to cross back right away, likely preferring to explore the world beyond the highway for a while.
The eggs won't hatch until mid-September, and the babies will seek out territory of their own.
Turtles not crossing road just to get to other side