Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the other side of course. Unfortunately they do it so slowly.

I saw this turtle right in the middle of the road. I waited for it to move but it stayed right there. I encouraged it to move but it had other ideas. I grabbed the turtle and tried to lift it but it fought my efforts. The turtle still has quite a bit of leverage within that shell even when picked up off the ground. The shell is slippery and left a musty smell on my hands. I didn't want it to slip from twisting while in my grasp and then have it clamp down on my hands.

I decided to set it back down on the road. When I saw cars approaching I pointed at the turtle but many of the drivers didn't see the turtle but instead just saw me pointing. The cars rolled by oblivious that a turtle was in their path. If it were a cat it certainly would have used up a few of its 9 lives by now.

I tried to get it to move again to no avail. I saw more cars approaching so I decided to try a different tactic. I pointed my camera at the turtle and pretended to take a picture of it. This worked as the cars approached and saw me "photographing" something on the road, their natural curiosity lead their eyes to it. Cars slowed or detoured into another lane except for this one big truck pulling a camper. Next thing I know I hear a Crack! Smack! The force of truck hitting turtle flipped the turtle onto its back. I thought for sure it was done for. But miraculously I saw it move and was able to right itself quickly (they have some leverage within that shell).

I imagine it must have been a little shell shocked from that impact. Can't recall now but this image might have been snapped right after it righted itself.

I knew I had to get it off the road before the next big vehicle came by. I went to search in my trunk and found one winter glove and a golf glove. Put both on, grabbed a snow scraper and went to grab the turtle. It was still feisty and fought my efforts again. Each time it would try and turn to face me. It was hissing loudly in protest and its legs would be moving, long claws and all. I finally managed to grab the turtle and carried it to the side of the road. As I was doing this it clamped its powerful and sharp mouth down on the snow scraper which I held in one hand. This proved to be a blessing as it stopped the turtle from twisting and moving around.

Turtles probably get run over on our roads with some frequency but I just couldn't let that happen to this guy. Would have felt bad if I didn't at least make an effort to try and move it out of the way despite its determination to not let me do so. What does a turtle know about a ton of metal anyway? After seeing it survive that collision with the big truck I now have a newfound respect for just how protective that hard shell can be. After all was said and done I left "Lucky" by the side of the road and snapped (no pun intended) a few more momentos before taking leave.