Are you a someone who stops and moves box turtles across the road or are you a person who aims your wheel at them for the crunch like Pat Conroy’s Great Santini did?  If you are the first, you are my friend.  If you are the other, well…shame on you!

This summer, a group of Virginia Naturalists kayaked at Adventure Mendota.  Katie Cordle put the group together.  We were busy when they left so I did not know that someone left with them.  It was a wounded turtle.   The turtle had a “place”…an infection.. near its ear and it was severely dehydrated.  They found it on our property.   Box turtles may live longer than humans. An adult male with the date 1874 carved on it was found in Rockingham County in August 1985 (Daily News Record, Harrisonburg), indicating an age of >111 years.    They have some predators but their primary danger is humans — automobiles on the roads.  Without Katie’s intervention, this turtle would most likely have died.

About a month after the kayak trip,  Katie called and told me about the turtle.   She had sought help from someone who knew exactly how to treat the turtle, and now it was healthy and ready to return to the wild.   She wanted to return it near where she got it.  She brought it out and held it carefully.

She pointed out the “E” on its shell.

I love the tender-hearted Katie who has an affection for turtles (and all living creatures).    She was careful where she wanted to return it.  She sought a shady place where the grass might still be a little damp so that it could hydrate.

And she did just that.

So the next time you see a box turtle in the road, please try and not crunch it.  If you can, stop and move it.  Keep it in the same direction it was headed if at all possible.

You’ll be doing a friend a favor.