Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
We got a phone call late at night about a week ago about a very large turtle crossing the road in town.
Of course when people say very large it can only be one thing. a Common Snapping Turtle.
Well when my boyfriend arrived at the scene the poor snapper had been run over. He brought it home so we could access the damages to his shell.
He had a complete split from his neck to his tail, and a split on his side where the top and bottom shell meet. It was very bad and the snapper was non responsive. If he made it through the night we would have started repairs to the shell...he did not make it through the night.
I would like to give the person out there the benefit of the doubt...ok maybe this person was driving and did not see the turtle, or thought it was just trash or something and just didnt have enough time to correct the wheel. It was night time after all.
But the realist inside me says no this was on purpose by a person thinking hes so cool and wants to run this turtle over for no other reason than to brag to people about it.
I dont get people...
this turtle was far from large, his shell measured about a foot and a half, maybe a 10 year old turtle. But big enough that driving over it in a vehicle would feel much like taking a speed bump at 40 mph.
That night I sent out an unkind facebook status update with the turtles picture on it. I got support from my friends that if this was on purpose what a shame.
I then got a private message from a guy saying he had pulled over and helped matt put the turtle in his car and was concerned and wanted an update on the snapper. I was surprised that this guy would see my staus and i was a little impressed when he said he was a reptile lover and he appreciated what we did by getting the snapper out of that situation. At least i take comfort knowing theres a nice reptile-friendly stranger out there.
I dont know who ever thought it was a cool idea to purposely run over animals on the road but karma will get them...its just not right.
R.I.P. Snapper
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...1_673537_n.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...-22_020416.jpg
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Given it was at night I am going to have assume that the person didn't see it. I know I wouldn't have.
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MasonC2K
Given it was at night I am going to have assume that the person didn't see it. I know I wouldn't have.
Pretty much. You generally don't see things until the last second. Even animals with reflective eyes because the light has to hit at just the right angle.
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
ive hit a few animals while driving. its hard to see them until its too late sometimes. i wont swerve to hit an animal but i wont put myself or my passengers in danger to swerve to miss one either. my life is more important than any animal standing in the road.
if i have time to asses the situation and have adequate time to maneuver around then i will ....of course.
adam jeffery
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MasonC2K
Given it was at night I am going to have assume that the person didn't see it. I know I wouldn't have.
I would like to also go with that thought as well but given the street corner he was on, its a big end of main street parking lot where high school kids hangout. That spells danger so any animal. I just am not sure in this case that i can believe it was an accident. Even though i hope it was. :tears:
Either way it is still sad that this snapper had to suffer, what a horrible death for a turtle.
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Quote:
Originally Posted by
python_addict
wow.......poor baby....im sure someone would have seen him i have been on the highway with a friend and we saw a baby turtle and we drove clear to the next town and turned around to look for him we skipped her whole birthday party just to find him we finally did and we took him home gave him some krill and minnows then released him at her grandparents private pond.
Thats a cute story. :P
It just doesnt help that turtles are so dang slow at crossing roads!
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
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Originally Posted by
Foschi Exotic Serpents
Poor thing. Where I work there are a lot of reptiles getting run over in the summer. Snakes, turtles, frogs.. It upsets me every time I see one. Luckily I do have some drivers and other employees here who will stop for these animals when they see them in the road to let them cross or allow them time to cross. I'm sure many are hit on purpose as well. I'll never understand those people who will dodge a mammal but try to hit a reptile.
Very sad. Too many cruel people out there. We had an incident here locally where a woman hit a dog on purpose and didn't kill it, but it ended up having to be euthanized. Fortunately, there were witnesses that reported seeing her not only speed up, but altered her driving path to intentionally hit it and was reportedly laughing. She was charged, but I don't recall seeing a news update on any sentencing or what charges stuck. Too bad the punishment couldn't fit the crime.
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djinnjer
Very sad. Too many cruel people out there. We had an incident here locally where a woman hit a dog on purpose and didn't kill it, but it ended up having to be euthanized. Fortunately, there were witnesses that reported seeing her not only speed up, but altered her driving path to intentionally hit it and was reportedly laughing. She was charged, but I don't recall seeing a news update on any sentencing or what charges stuck. Too bad the punishment couldn't fit the crime.
WOW! :mad: I just dont understand how people could do that sort of thing...
I hit a cat once on the interstate going through a town.
The thing just bolted into traffic and I ran him over. I teared up and felt horrible because I remembered my childhood cat Caramel got run over but didnt die right away and he came home and had to spend a few days in the vet before he passed away. Our family was very sad. Pets I feel especially bad about. Because someone is going to miss that animal.
Re: Another Reptile falls to Ignorance *GRAPHIC*
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Raptor
I'll try to miss an animal, but if it means going into the other lane and there's oncoming traffic, then sorry, but the animal dies. I'm not risking my life. I'm also not going to stop if I hit someone's pet. The vast majority of free running pets have no tags, and those that do could easily belong to a nutjob who'd happily shoot me (hurrah for oklahoma).
Well theres a difference between speeding up and swerving to hit the animal on purpose.
I agree if it meant putting myself or other people in danger the animal would have to take a loss.
But i would never just run over an animal on purpose.
