Turtles Are Protected

Tara Azzopardi | Jul 20, 2022

As I drove north on the Flinton Road the other day, I was horrified to come across a massive snapping turtle, lying with his head and shell cracked open, bleeding all over the middle of the lane. Someone had just run over it (this was on a very straight part of the Flinton Road, with excellent visibility, and there is never much traffic on Thursday mid mornings). The turtle looked close to 75 years old, and prior to this day, had been living quietly in the swamps and ponds. Until someone decided they couldn’t slow down and stop, or avoid her, or even help her cross the road. Instead, it appears they decided to crush half of her body and skull, leaving it to bleed slowly to death in the middle of the lane, amongst the heat and flies.

But all is not lost.

After a brief chat with a volunteer at the Ontario Turtle Association (https://ontarioturtle.ca/)

I was told a few things. One was that turtles are incredibly tough and can survive severe injuries to their shells When they are injured, they “shut down” to conserve energy, and may look like they’re dead. The OTA will take the injured turtle and attempt to save and rehabilitate it. And even if the turtle appears to be dying or has died, the OTA will take them and if it is a female, they will harvest her eggs for hatchlings to be reintegrated back into the wild.

By the time I grabbed a storage bin and retrieved the turtle, she appeared to be dead (a very bad head wound). A lovely volunteer came the next morning, and drove the turtle to the Ontario Turtle Association, in Peterborough. I am hopeful the OTA found eggs, and this magnificent reptile’s babies will live to be older than she was.

We share the earth with these creatures, who were here before the dinosaurs.

All of Ontario’s turtles are now listed as a species at risk.

If you see someone intentionally hit or kill a turtle, get their license plate/vehicle description and report it immediately to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

If you see a hurt or dying/dead turtle, contact the Ontario Turtle Association at (705) 741-5000 (their website also has a lot of helpful information).

If this letter helps secure the future for just one turtle, it will have been successful.

Thank you to the many kind and caring folks out there who have helped turtles in the past, and will continue to help them in the future.

Tara Azzopardi