Now that the egg-laying season is done for the most part and the days are warm and the pavement warmer, our friends the box turtles are taking to the roads. No, they are not traveling, at least not anywhere fast; instead, they are soaking up the sun’s energy to warm their cold-blooded little bodies. Not only do the turtles bask in the sunshine, though, they often cross busy roads to reach freshwater ponds in summer and then their leafy burrows as winter approaches. Drivers, beware!
We are lucky here on eastern Long Island to have a fair amount of remaining habitat good for box turtles. But they are not out of the woods, so to speak.
The Group for the East End launched a conservation effort earlier this year to help prevent their potential extinction locally. Hard numbers are few, but anecdotally, the Group believes that more and more box turtles are killed or injured by motor vehicles every year. To that end, it is collecting sightings via its newly announced North Fork Turtle Watch, a partnership with Anna Thonis, a New York University ecologist.
The Group and others say that turtles found in the road should be carefully picked up and placed well away from the pavement in the direction they were heading. Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, based in Jamesport, accepts sick and injured turtles daily around the clock and can be texted at 516-729-7894. It advises that a turtle should only be transported after a towel or a cloth is put over its body and head and carefully lifted from behind, with two hands, into a box or onto a car mat. A snapping turtle was killed last week on Pantigo Road, presumably on its way to or from an ill-chosen nesting place.
Later each year, sea turtles are at risk as the temperature of the bays and harbors plunges, around about Halloween. The New York Marine Mammal Rescue Center in Riverhead has rehabilitated more than 1,000 turtles since it was established in the early 2000s. It operates a 24-hour stranding hotline at 631-369-9829. The Rescue Center has said that due to climate change, the difference between summer and winter ocean temperatures is becoming increasingly sharp, leaving young green turtles especially in danger.
One thing we all can do now is slow down while driving — whether one expects to spot a turtle or not. Observations collected on the North Fork will help identify mortality hotspots and potential solutions that could be applicable everywhere. In the meantime, drivers everywhere should keep a sharp eye out for that telltale orange-and-brown bump in the road.