Please don't run over turtles

Letter to the Editor:
We are so fortunate to live in a rural area, away from the hustle and bustle and concrete of the City. Come Spring we see “nature” come alive after usually a long, cold, snowy winter. With the warmth we see new life in the trees, flowers, gardens and creatures of land, air and water. We see baby geese with their parents in many yards along the Rainy River, along with ducklings of many kinds. We see calves in the farmer’s fields and new fawns with their mothers on the sides of the roads.
All these creatures are doing what nature has programmed to

do – multiply. I think it is awesome that we in this part of the country are able to witness the new life around us.
There is one more creature that, every spring, ventures forth to do what comes naturally – the snapping turtle. Now this is where my complaint lies. This poor lowly turtle comes up out of the river to find the perfect spot to deposit her eggs. Many times she has to cross roads to get to the spot she wants and then has to return back across the road to the river once she has completed her motherly task.
Now I realized that with all the creatures roaming up and down and across our country roads, some do meet with an unfortunate end. Deer are well known to just “jump out” of ditches and fields right in front of vehicles. Then there are some birds that don’t quite make the upward swoop away from moving cars. These are truly accidents and I am sorry to see it happen.
But come on now, how many times has a Turtle “jumped” out in front of your car? They just plod along and most times they can be seen on the roads well in advance of actually coming up on them. So tell me, why is it that some people take such perverse pleasure in running them over? It is not like the roads along the river are super busy highways with no way for drivers to avoid hitting these little creatures. They are not out to hurt anyone, and they do not devour our young garden vegetable and flowers (like some animals do). They are just trying to do what they have been doing for centuries.
The next time you see a Turtle on the road, please think about it. Is there really a need to run over it?

–A turtle lover from way back.
Donna Moen