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Recently, Reta Meng<\/a>, a PhD candidate at McMaster University, and I analyzed these data. We found that reptiles greatly outnumbered amphibians, with just over 80 per cent of the observations being reptiles on roads. Such a strong bias towards reptiles was surprising and could be because a turtle or snake on a road is easier to spot than a small frog or salamander.<\/p>\n The results are clear that many species of amphibians and reptiles cross roads<\/a> for many reasons such as to get to breeding ponds, foraging areas or hibernation sites. There were observations of 68 different species of amphibians and reptiles:<\/p>\n While a large number of species were found on roads, the top 10 species accounted for three-quarters of all the observations.<\/p>\n We also found that the observations were strongly biased towards Ontario. Although Ontario represents less than 40 per cent of the Canadian population, 80 per cent of observation were made in the province. Clearly, iNaturalist is popular with people in Ontario. Despite these biases, there are observations from every province as well as the Northwest Territories, which had a few observations of Common Garter snakes on roads in the extreme south of NWT.<\/p>\n The most commonly reported species on roads was the Painted Turtle, making up almost one in four observations. It is not surprising that the Painted Turtle would be the top species found on roads, as it is the most widespread turtle in Canada, ranging from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n Here were the top five species on roads:<\/p>\n Both the Garter Snake and the Leopard Frog are abundant and widespread so it is not surprising they would be among the species mostly commonly found on roads.<\/p>\n Overall, turtles as a group made up more than 40 per cent of the observations, demonstrating just how much a risk roads pose to turtles. In contrast, lizards made up less than one per cent of the observations. This result is likely not because lizards wisely avoid roads, but because lizards are rare or absent in most parts of Canada and these small reptiles are likely harder to see on roads compared with snakes and turtles.<\/p>\n Despite being the top species in Canada, the Painted Turtle was the most commonly reported species only in Ontario, although it was in the top three species in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n The number of observations has been growing each year as more people start using iNaturalist. In 2024, there were more than 4,700 observations of amphibians and reptiles on roads in Canada. Considering that fewer people are using iNaturalist in provinces outside of Ontario, and that the data are biased against small frogs and salamanders, the true number of amphibians and reptiles found on roads each year could easily be double that number. That is a lot of potential roadkill.<\/p>\n If you would like to find out more about our results, you can read the complete scientific paper ><\/a><\/p>\n It is never too late to join iNaturalist.ca<\/a> and contribute your own observations of amphibians and reptiles on the roads \u2014 or off.<\/p>\nWhy Do They Cross the Road?<\/h3>\n
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The Top Hitters<\/h3>\n
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Provincial Breakdown<\/h3>\n
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Looking at the data by province, most provinces had a snake or turtle as the top species observed on roads. One surprising exception was British Columbia. This province had the second most observations of amphibians and reptiles on roads. In BC, the top species was the Rough-skinned Newt \u2014 a salamander \u2014 which made up almost a quarter of the observations from that province.<\/p>\nTracking Wildlife Road Fatalities<\/h3>\n
Learn more about our work with freshwater turtles<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"