May 23 — same date every year
American Tortoise Rescue
The American Tortoise Rescue (ATR) says on its website tortoise.com created the day to celebrate the world’s oldest creatures — turtles and tortoises have been around for 200,000,000 years — and a day to recognize the critical need to protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.
Bunkie, ATR’s mascot, the first turtle ATR rescued
Adopting a Turtle
ATR advises:
- If you see a turtle crossing a road, pick it up and carry it on across the road to where it was going. Don’t try to make it go back — it will only turn around and try to cross the road again.
- Don’t remove turtles or tortoises from the wild unless they are sick or injured.
- If you would like a pet turtle, click here to locate one to adopt. Don’t buy a turtle or tortoise from a pet shop — it increases demand for turtles and tortoises from their natural habitats.
Greeting Cards for World Turtle Day
www.123greetings.com/events/turtle_day/
Turtle versus Rabbit
Turtle Crossing Sign (turtles can read?)
Apparently turtles can read; otherwise how would they know where to cross?
‘I’m going to be a little late.’
Turtle Tunnel
Turtle tunnel under construction
May Township in Minnesota installed a turtle tunnel to help turtles safely cross a busy road.
The tunnel is at a point of the road that experiences high mortality rates for turtles. It’s near a big lake where each spring turtles leave their winter homes for nesting areas on the other side of the road.
The tunnel structure, imported from Germany, is a series of cement blocks that have been hollowed out to form a tunnel.
There is a skylight for the turtles. The tunnel blocks have slots on top that allow light to penetrate the tunnel. The light encourages turtles to enter the tunnels.
Sign showing turtles entrance to tunnel
You can read about more this and watch a TV news episode in “Minnesota Town Installs Turtle Tunnel“.
