Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?

So, why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the Shell Station, of course!

O.k., really…what makes a turtle, or any other critter for that matter, attempt such a feat as crossing a busy local road or even a 6 lane interstate highway? Regardless of what we may think it is not because the animal kingdom is secretly conspiring to inconvenience the human race.  In the case of the turtle it has had over 230 million years to hone its survival instinct which can best be described as conditioning for preservation of the species. Through adaptive evolution the female turtle has been programmed to leave the watery environment where she spends most of her life and seek out the best upland areas with sandy or gravelly soil  (including my butterfly garden and various locations within my back yard) where she is most likely to successfully produce the next generation of turtles.

This painted turtle ((Chrysemys picta) visited my yard today to dig her nest and lay her eggs

This is problematic for all turtles when their nesting habitats, which typically consist of open, sandy, well-drained upland, are bisected from their watery environs (which, again, varies from species to species) by a road or other manmade impediment. A related phenomenon which causes mortality occurs where causeway construction, or road maintenance, has created sandy open areas suitable for nesting habitat immediately adjacent to the road shoulder or in the case of J.F.K Airport in between runways. In this instance, turtles are often killed after incidentally ending up on the road surface while scouting for a preferable nest site. In the summer of 2011  runway 4L was closed due the spawning migration of the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).

Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) crossing a road.

Journalist Natalie Angier in a 2006 NYT science article states that in man-kind “this Mesozoic era creature may have at last met it’s mortician.” Most experts agree the cause of world-wide declines in turtle populations includes habitat loss, either by outright conversion or indirect fragmentation (can’t get there from here) and a high rate of decline from road mortality and harvest for importation to the Far East as a gourmet delicacy and for traditional medicinal purposes. Basically the slow and steady reproductive pace of turtles, some which may not be physically capable of producing offspring for 40 or 50 years, just cannot keep up with the high rate of adult mortality.

Research indicates that unlike all other animals studied, the organs of turtles do not age or become less efficient over time. Even after a century and a half the vital organs are indistinguishable from that of a juvenile. Researchers have even gone so far as to say that a turtle may live indefinitely (if not lost to disease or trauma). How ironic it would be if humankind, having spent its entire existence on earth seeking immortality, were to destroy the one thing it has always sought due to a selfish lack of consideration for another living organism?

Eastern snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Photograph by Paul Sattler

So PLEASE watch out for mother turtles crossing the road as they are now seeking out higher ground to lay their eggs. Please avoid hitting them and if possible, help the turtle cross the road. BUT REMEMBER to always move the turtles in the direction that they were originally heading. If they are moved back to the side from which they were crossing they will just try to cross the road again.

Also, once the eggs hatch in the late-summer to early fall, be on the look out for baby turtles crossing the road to go back to the wetlands and ponds.

Juvenile Painted turtle found on April 14, 2012 desiccating on a roadway in Chelmsford MA

Following 30 minutes of rest in a shallow bucket of water the little turtle was ready for its trip to the nearby pond

One hotspot in Chelmsford to be aware of is the crossing at Smith Street right before the Steadman Street intersection. Unfortunately the Turtle Crossing signs that the Chelmsford Conservation Commission had placed here didn’t make it through their first summer thanks to vandals.

Vandals removed the Turtle Crossing sign off of Smith Street in Chelmsford MA last summer.

So remember,”and the turtles of course…all the turtles are free, As turtles and maybe all creatures should be.  Dr Seuss from Yurtle the Turtle.

Spring Has Sprung!

On Tuesday morning as I dragged my sorry self out of bed something felt different.  I couldn’t quite pin it down. It wasn’t until as I juggled briefcase, purse, coffee cup and keys did it click. The red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were BACK!  I heard a cacophony of conk-la-ree! song from the meadow.  Aside from the obvious prolonged daylight that results when the Northern hemisphere is once more beginning its lean towards the sun, the blackbird is one of my indicator animals for the onset of spring.  I usually equate them with the week of the spring equinox. This year, however, they are back about 2 weeks earlier than normal. Now I should probably qualify my statement above, because some avid birdwatcher will call my bluff and say that the red-winged blackbird is a winter visitor in this part of MA. That is indeed true for some subset of the population and if I wanted to go looking for one I would be likely to find one in a feedlot or crop field. It is their March return to the marshes and other wet areas that I refer to when I say they are “back.”

Male and Female Red-winged Blackbird

It’s not that the blackbird is unusual. In fact it is downright common although the colorful picture that the males make with their red-and-yellow shoulder badges is still pleasing to the eye. By comparison the female is nondescript and her behavior mirrors her camouflage of color.  The behavior of the male reminds me, on the other hand, of a college frat boy. One reason is because the male redwing is territorial and very aggressive in protecting its boundary. I have seen them attack and chase crows, hawks and even ospreys.  They also are very vocal and have been known to dive-bomb people when they approach active nesting areas. I can personally attest to this by the way and strongly recommend avoiding kayak excursions into an active territorial area. Another is their common tendency for polygamy where one territorial male redwing will have many female mates. Now guys, don’t take offense here, I am not casting one-sided aspersions. It turns out in the end that many of the young end up being sired by an individual other than the territorial male.

Male Red-winged Blackbird showing his colors

Redwings build their nests in a variety of habitats though a marsh, swamp, or wet meadow appears to be preferred. The female will weave an intricate nest platform out of cattail, rush, sedge, buttonbush, willow or other vegetation. They prefer this water-loving vegetation for the placement of the nest as well.

Typical Design of A Red-winged Blackbird Nest

Now, I have seen other signs that I equate with spring such as full thaw, fog, and burgeoning leaf buds. Then there is the sweet sound of the black-capped chickadee’s spring song of fee-bie or sweet-ie. I have also observed the gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) cutting and dropping the early buds and/or twigs from the silver maples (Acer saccharinum) in my neighborhood which means that the sap is running. The squirrel like us has a sweet tooth and when the sap begins to flow they clip the branches and buds to lick the sap from the cuts that they have made. So don’t forget to get out and enjoy the spring air, but watch out for falling branches.