why do turtles park themselves in the road?

Loohan

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Spring is here, and i've seen 4 new black rat snakes around my place, including one that seems as big or bigger than Fred whom i have posted about. And Fred must be close to 8 feet long.
And 3 wild boxies on the road so far. All 3 were parked in the road, not moving. I see this so often, even a time or 2 with snapping turtles.
I always assumed they were sunning themselves, but this morning was totally overcast and i found one like that.
Shouldn't they be more paranoid? A bird of prey or other predator might see them so exposed.
 

wellington

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Also when moving them from the road, put them on the side that they were facing. Most if put back on the side you think they came from, will just try to cross the road again.
 

Loohan

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The asphalt is warmer than the grass and allows them to warm up especially in the morning when it’s cooler out.

Well that's a fairly airtight theory except this morning's was a dirt road on the north side of the hill and the sun would not have struck it yet if it had been out, which it wasn't.

Also they will do this in the heat of the summer when it's plenty warm everywhere. And many i spot are on dirt roads.
 

Loohan

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For some reason i see fewer turtles later in the summer, but i did see 2 wild 3tbt's recently.
Day before yesterday morning, one was parked in the road in a totally shaded area.
And this afternoon, overcast with occasional light drizzle, another one parked in the middle of the road.
 

mark1

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could be , being out in the open is scary to them , and a defensive strategy is motionless
 

Loohan

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could be , being out in the open is scary to them , and a defensive strategy is motionless

Normally this species has a tendency to bolt for anything that might be cover. If you put one down, they may look around a while, then dash for the nearest likely hiding place.
Some are pretty fearless, though.

Also, the one 2 days ago was parked about a foot away from the edge of the road, facing the edge, and there is brush very close there.
 

mark1

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I haven't a clue as to why turtles sit in the road , but it has been my observation that animals that are preyed upon tend to freeze first , and bolt as a last resort , unless it's the best option , usually not …….. even animals that can actually run and utilize speed as a method of survival , deer and rabbits come to mind ……… birds that can fly will freeze in place , when my wood turtles see me , if they're within diving distance they'll take to the water , out in the open they freeze , if I walk away when I come back they are always gone …….. seems to be a widespread if not across the board defensive adaptation
 

Millerlite

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Like others said its the warmer asphalt they get attracted too. Also the open areas allow sun. Also box turtles through summer males at first will search for females. looking through open fields and hanging out in areas they can see one crossing by them for breeding. later in the summer you will see females wondering looking to nest. some of the best nesting sites are in the open and you will see a lot of turtles lay on the edge of asphalt roads or in the middle of dirt roads. As babies or littler turtles you will see less in the open due to predators.

kyle
 

Loohan

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I haven't a clue as to why turtles sit in the road , but it has been my observation that animals that are preyed upon tend to freeze first , and bolt as a last resort , unless it's the best option , usually not …….. even animals that can actually run and utilize speed as a method of survival , deer and rabbits come to mind ……… birds that can fly will freeze in place , when my wood turtles see me , if they're within diving distance they'll take to the water , out in the open they freeze , if I walk away when I come back they are always gone …….. seems to be a widespread if not across the board defensive adaptation

But i did not notice any reason for them to freeze in fear. They were immobile when i first saw them in the distance, and there were no predators noticed. In fact, in daylight, it seems to me some of these big birds here would be a threat, and turtles make no effort to hide from them.
 

Loohan

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Like others said its the warmer asphalt they get attracted too. ..
kyle

The one 2 days ago was sitting on a road that had not yet been hit by morning sun. At least not the area she was in. And she was not walking over to a sunny spot.
The one this afternoon was on a damp road that had just freshly been re-done with fine WHITE gravel and had not had sun on it for hours.
 

mark1

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I lean toward the thinking male turtle do not actively seek females , they happen upon them within their home range …… there have been folks that studied such stuff and have not found males to breed females who did not have overlapping home ranges …….. asphalt on a sunny 70 degree day can be in excess of 120 degrees , on a hot day it can be near 150 degrees , concrete I believe similar ……we have eastern box turtles here , they avoid that kind of heat ….. no doubt roadsides are popular places for female turtles to attempt to nest ……..
 

Millerlite

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I lean toward the thinking male turtle do not actively seek females , they happen upon them within their home range …… there have been folks that studied such stuff and have not found males to breed females who did not have overlapping home ranges …….. asphalt on a sunny 70 degree day can be in excess of 120 degrees , on a hot day it can be near 150 degrees , concrete I believe similar ……we have eastern box turtles here , they avoid that kind of heat ….. no doubt roadsides are popular places for female turtles to attempt to nest ……..
when I lived in IL I use to see male box turtle on adventures a ton around april-june, than they disappeared and than late summer I would see more females wondering. I wouldn't say they left their home range venturing hundreds of miles. Just from my small observations I would assume its mating would be motive for moving, your thinking more food driven?

As far as home ranges it is very well studied box turtles do not leave their home range. Again from just living in IL where box turtles were wild. The pass 15 years roads are where woods use to be and shopping centers are where woods use to be when I was younger. It can be very possible that a box turtle male or female wonder on to a road wondering their "home range" that now has a road or parking lot in it? As far as asphalt and heat, it gets very very hot! Snakes like to bask on roads too some to the point of burning them selves. I think roads are so forign to them I dont know if they know to stay away or not. However I do know they are attracted to roads, if not for mating, not for basking.... what else can it be? Food? shelter?

Kyle
 

mark1

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i'm pretty sure turtles are opportunistic as far as breeding …… the ones i'm familiar with will breed throughout their active season , spring to fall ……… I believe they do venture out of their normal range when actually searching for something , a nest site , or a hibernation spot …….. they appear only to breed with turtles with overlapping ranges ……. roadsides are attractive nest sites to a lot of types of turtles , the raised sloping gravel sand rock berm is pretty similar to a stream bank ……….. i'm sure roads and roadsides are easy routes to get around if your a turtle , where a big rock can be a dilemma , we used to find many turtles in those cleared power line swaths ………. I would think a snake getting burned on a road was either just trying to cross an extremely hot road , or had something wrong with it ……..
 

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Interestingly, here in the last 5 days of August, I have found three male Eastern Box Turtles in the same 50 yard swath of road crossing a stream valley at around 9:30 am. All headed upstream. Two of them were helped across the busy road, but the third wasn't as lucky. I have always gone along with the idea that box turtles on the road in the spring were males looking for females and in the summer they were females looking for nesting areas but this seems to be the opposite. We have had an unusually wet year with frequent flash flooding that could be displacing males downstream from their home territories so that could explain it.
 

Loohan

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I went cruising some local back roads this morning and saw my first wild boxie of the year! And then my 2nd and my 3rd!
All 3 were solidly parked in the middle of the road, on a totally overcast day. Of course i moved them.

Also saw a snapping turlte in the middle of a gravel road, mashed.:(
 

mark1

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I took a shot that someone has actually studied this , it appears they have ………….. I do believe it is pretty hard to see a turtle before they see you ……..…. my opinion would be the turtles in this study that stopped without the observer seeing a reason , stopped because they saw a reason the observer didn't , they don't miss much in the way of movement …….. I tend to think box turtles may stop longer because they are safer inside their shells than a painted turtle , musk turtle or a snapping turtle , their defense instinct i'd think is a bit different ……





Testing the Behavioral Responses of West Virginia Turtles to Roads and Vehicles

Aaron Clinton Gooley

http://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1609&context=etd

 

Loohan

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I took a shot that someone has actually studied this , it appears they have ………….. I do believe it is pretty hard to see a turtle before they see you ……..…. my opinion would be the turtles in this study that stopped without the observer seeing a reason , stopped because they saw a reason the observer didn't , they don't miss much in the way of movement …….. I tend to think box turtles may stop longer because they are safer inside their shells than a painted turtle , musk turtle or a snapping turtle , their defense instinct i'd think is a bit different ……





Testing the Behavioral Responses of West Virginia Turtles to Roads and Vehicles

Aaron Clinton Gooley

http://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1609&context=etd

Wow, interesting article. I haven't read it but will point out that when I see parked turtles on a back road, it is unlikely they are stopped due to previous traffic. Around here i usually drive back roads for many miles on a weekday (in between commuting hours) without seeing another moving vehicle.
Nor are they likely to have stopped because they noticed me coming before i noticed them.
I always keep my eyes peeled for anything resembling a turtle or other animal in the road. Steered around a black snake a couple days ago.

Last year one time i was on the main hwy though, and stopped and backed up because there was a boxie on the shoulder wanting to cross. He actually was smart enough to be intimidated by the trucks etc wooshing by. He had his head up perpendicular to the hwy and seemed to be looking for an opportunity.
 

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