One snapping turtle saved, many more killed

[Catherine]

Snapping turtles leave the water to lay eggs and to migrate from one pond to another. A busy road was built between two snapping turtle ponds. Matilda the snapping turtle was hit by a car, but survived, 45 others have been killed.

The area is in the top 10 significant wetlands in Ontario. It needs to be protected if the turtle are to survive.

https://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-st...-s-safety/

Maybe they should move the road. Who made the decision to build a road in that area anyhow. Certainly they could reduce the speed limit. Maybe they will need a team of volunteers, sort of turtle crossing guards to stop cars when turtles are crossing.
Of course and underpass for the animals to cross would help.

It would also help to protect the swans who are nesting there. Those are reintroduced swans. The original native swans were wiped out in the area and are making a comeback because they brought in swans from the west coast. 

We  wiped out the swans once. Do we mean to let the turtles be wiped out as well. They won't be so easy to replace.

[Tobi]

Oh dear...great big cars again probably going faster than they ought to, or drivers who are not tuned-in. There is no live contact with the environment when you are in a car.
Poor Turtles. They don't understand cars. I don't think many animals do, except dogs.
They should build an underpass. Of course that would cost money to construct. But these Turtles are obviously endangered by this road between their ponds. It is good that someone is bothering to help and to observe their situation. Hopefully something can be done to help them?

[Catherine]

The snapping turtles are big, heavy and slow moving. It takes them awhile to get across the road. To stop the carnage we either need to stop the traffic or build a turtle crossing tunnel.  They shouldn't have built the road there in the first place. It could have followed a less ecologically sensitive path. Of course it would have been built before there was such a thing as ecological sensitivity.

We already close one road for a salamander.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...7fcVe-Zr_w

If we can do this for a salamander then we can do it for a turtle.

There are lots of ways a wildlife crossing could be built.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...7X2X6wfLPA

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...Cq7sppu-VQ

I am sure we can come up with a safe way for the turtles to cross.
We just have to want to do it. 

If the turtles only cross at certain times then we could close the road temporarily. We could have turtle crossing guards, people who are there to make sure the cars stop when a turtle decides to cross. They could wear special turtle vests and have a stop sign shaped like a turtle. I bet they could get volunteers if someone organized it.

I just came across an article about a new wildlife crossing being built to protect mountain lions and other animals in the Los Angeles area.

https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/14/16310204...tain-lions

I wish they would build it sooner, but I am glad they are building it at all.