This really makes me mad

[parabuzzle]

Ok, let me set the scene. My fiancé' and I had just gone out for some dinner and we decided to go to the local pet shop and pick up some frozen mice for Monty, our Ball Python (dinner for him ) So anyway, we are on our way home and there is a snapping turtle in the median. I didn't see the little guy but Lisa did and she screams "turn around, there is a turtle stuck in the median." So, of coarse, I did.



Well, I parked the car in a turn lane and kicked the hazard lights on. I ran over to the turtle that is now in the middle of one of the lanes. The guy had his head all the way up in the air with this look of horror and confusion on his little face. I went out in to the road to grab him and a car comes barreling down the road at the turtle and me. I moved out of the way and the guy drove over turtle without even slowing down. Fortunately, the turtle passed between both wheels unharmed. So I called Lisa over and she ran in to the traffic, flagging people out of the lane with horns honking and fingers flying, she grabbed the little guy and took him to the side of the road.



We then went over to the car and I looked in the rearview mirror to see the turtle on his way across the street in the other direction. Hmmm.... So out we come again to the rescue. Only this time, some jerk hit the turtle on our way out to him. Fortunately, he was only grazed and just had a little cut on his stomach. So we helped him to the other side of the road, well away from the road this time.

[mr~python]

im glad to hear that you saved him.

[Melicious]

So am I. People can be so careless and inconsiderate.

[JLC]

Ok....some people may think me terribly insensitive, but based on your description of events, your actions sound more than a little irresponsible to me. Don't get me wrong...I'm glad the turtle is fine. And if I were to happen on a pokey critter sauntering across an empty road, I would not hesitate to stop and help it across...or move a snake that stopped to soak up the warmth from the asphalt.


However, there is a definite line, I believe, between helping an animal, and putting human lives in danger. If I'm traveling down a highway at a high rate of speed and a small animal is suddenly in my way, I am not going to swerve to miss it and risk flipping my car in the process. If I see a small animal such as a turtle on a busy road, I am sorry, but that turtle's life is not worth risking the life of my loved ones or the lives of others on the road.

I have a feeling you would have forgotten all about that turtle if your fiance had been hit by a car. Or if your actions caused one car to swerve into another, causing strangers to get hurt.

Maybe I'm reading more into this than there is...but I do sometimes get frustrated when it seems like human lives are not worth spit while a turtle's life is worth everything.

EDIT: And you judge all the other drivers on the road as "jerks" as they whiz past you, but chances are they never even saw the turtle...just two people out on the road for no good reason they can see. Just something to consider...

[daniel1983]

Consider yourself lucky, and I am glad you kept the turtle in the same location. Turtles don't handle being 'transplanted' into new locations very well.

Here is something to read:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=24076

[parabuzzle]

ok, first off, the speed limit on that part of the road is only 30 MPH. The guy that almost hit me was the only guy in three lanes. I suspect that he wasn't paying attention and speeding and probably didn't see me. As far as Lisa's encounter, she stopped the one guy who was really nice and put his hazard lights on. The horns and fingers started as the people pulled up behind him.

As far as the transplant issue, I know that turtles don't like to be moved too far. The turtle knows where he wants to go. My opinion is that as soon as you get him out of the way of harm, leave him alone.

[JLC]

Like I said, "based on your description"....it sounded like a fast-moving, busy road. And it just bothers me to see folks glamorizing the "heroics" of risking life and limb of everyone around to move a turtle or snake off the freeway or whatever.


I'm glad to hear the road wasn't as fast or as busy as it first seemed.

I still don't see what there is to get so angry about, though. But maybe that's just me.

[parabuzzle]

I get angry when people don't seem to care. That's all. Maybe I didn't make it clear. The turtle's shell was about 20 inches around. The road was 3 lanes in both directions in a rural area and the guy that made me angry was the guy that almost hit me and drove over the turtle because of his carelessness. His brake lights didn't even come on after he realized what he had just done.

[tigerlily]

I understand the urge to rescue those animals, since I've done it myself. Since having kids, I've reconsidered that urge. There was a case where a woman went to do the same thing, but her daughter leapt out of the car to save the turtle and was killed in the process. Plus the endless number of people that swerve to miss the squirrel or deer, and end up killed when they lose control of the car.

Not to say that I will never do it again, but please be VERY careful when attempting something like this.