Turtle Roadkill

2025-05-28

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One day while heading to town, I spotted a snapping turtle attempting to cross the road. Box turtles are fairly common around here, but snapping turtles are a rare sight. I pulled over to let him cross, but he refused to move while I was nearby, so I decided to drive carefully around him and continue on.

A few days later, on a different road out of town, I discovered a dead snapping turtle in the middle of the road. I'm pretty sure it was the same turtle.

In the American Midwest, where the dominant form of transportation is by private automobile, roadkill is a relatively common sight. But I get much more upset about it when the victim is a turtle. Squirrels and rabbits I understand: they dart out into the road and find themselves under a tire before one can react to them. Even foxes and deer are notoriously hard to avoid. But turtles are slow, and stubborn, and they steadily follow their chosen path without jumping in anyone's way.

The vast majority collisions with a turtle are avoidable if drivers simply pay attention to the road. To me, the frequency with which I see turtle roadkill is a sign of how little people focus. They speed, swerve, look at the phones, blast music, and even eat or apply makeup while driving. They don't watch out for animals, other motorists, construction zones, or any other hazard. All they care about is getting to their destination as fast as possible and avoiding any sort of boredom on the way.

I'm not a perfect driver myself. I sometimes driver above the speed limit, and I sometimes find myself looking at my surroundings instead of the road. But I've also never hit a turtle.

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[Last updated: 2025-05-28]