{"id":3697,"date":"2017-06-13T16:40:57","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T16:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/?p=3697"},"modified":"2025-02-28T21:46:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T21:46:43","slug":"why-did-the-turtle-cross-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/why-did-the-turtle-cross-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did the turtle cross the road?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The answer to this play-on-words is far from a children\u2019s joke.<\/h2>\n
\"Turtles
Turtles evolved as a species long before cars were invented, so they don\u2019t naturally know about vehicles and the danger they present.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Turtles often use a variety of wetlands over the course of the year. They may spend the winter in one wetland, but forage for food in another in the spring, and use a third wetland later in the summer. To get from one wetland to another often means having to cross a busy road. While turtles can sometimes be seen on roads throughout the spring and summer, many are on roads during the month of June, the prime nesting period for turtles. During June, adult females are leaving swamps and marshes to look for places to lay their eggs and are often forced to cross roads looking for a place to lay their eggs; unfortunately in many cases they find themselves face to face with fast moving vehicles only to meet their final demise.<\/p>\n

\"Snapping<\/p>\n

Canadian Wildlife Federation and one of our partners, Scales Nature Park, are conducting surveys for turtles on roads <\/a>to help identify where turtles are most commonly killed on roads. This information can be used to determine where road mitigation, such as fencing should be installed to keep turtles off roads and reduce future turtle deaths. Fencing that guides turtles and other wildlife to existing culverts keeps turtles off the road but still allows individuals to get where the want to go.<\/p>\n

Help the turtles<\/strong><\/h3>\n