I Brake For Turtles

Driving south on Highway 83 in Nebraska, I am absolutely amazed at the amount of standing water in the Sandhills. I thought that country was wet last year...Yow-za! They are drowning this year and suffering from storm after storm.

I've run into bad weather every time I have made the trip this spring and this time was no exception. I did miss the hail and tornado this time though, even if it was only by a few miles.

So anyway, I'm toodling along and see a hug black spot in the road ahead. I figured it was a 'road alligator', but as I slowed down so as not to flip it under my trailer and possibly wreck one of my own tires, I see it's this guy...

Awwww damn! I hate seeing turtles trying to cross the road. I feel so sorry for them doing their best to get across. Most often its the little Box Turtles. This time it was a big old snapper.

I almost didn't stop.

But a 100 feet up the road was his buddy...

Smashed!

So I pulled over, backed my rig into a handy turn-off and hustled back to give the big guy a lift to the other side. He was none too happy with my interference and once I got up to him, I realized he was too big to pick up. That's my size 8 hoof looking pretty small on his back...

Luckily, there wasn't any traffic at that exact moment and I managed to get him shoved over to the side of the road. Well, actually I gave him a few shoves with my foot to get him moving and that only ticked him off, so then he just chased my foot the rest of the way.

But, I got him headed into the grass...

He was fairly ungrateful about the whole thing, but I felt better. Hopefully, he decides that side of the road is where he wanted to be and stays there. I just hate seeing those big, old turtles squished on the road. At that size, you know he had to be over 50 years old...more likely 70-80 years old.

I can't imagine running over one. Talk about popping a tire.

This little guy startled me when I came out of the bathroom at a convenience store in Sliver Plume. He strolled right into the store, but ran back out the door when he saw me standing there...

At that time the door was propped open, so I told the clerk he had a visitor. He kind of laughed it off, but did come close the door. I'm guessing someone has been feeding him/her because it was not one bit afraid. After the guy shut the door, it just parked itself in front of the door like a dog would and waited.

While the little guy was awfully cute, I always hate to see people feed wild animals like that. It never ends well for the animal.