Turtle Traffic Still Tootling

In the May 11 Patch survey about deliberately avoiding turtles in and roadways—or drivers stopping and getting out of vehicles to move them—only one respondent of the 81 participants said they did not worry about turtles on roads.

A total of 56 percent of respondents indicated they pulled their vehicles over to get out to move turtles out of harm's way. The other 41 percent of respondents said they avoid turtles while driving.

While walking my dog Wednesday, we came across the turtle shown in the photo accompanying this article. My dog enjoyed sobering on the turtle, who didn't completely clam up. Of course, I helped the turtle off the road, and of course .

Missouri has 17 kinds of turtles; all but three are federally protected, according to Missouri Department of Conservation sources. From the MDC turtle identification guide linked from Patch earlier this month, I believe this turtle to be a box turtle. The bottom shell, known as the plastron, is equipped with a hinge. This hinged shell permits box turtles to close their lower shell against the inside edge of the upper shell (called the carapace), hence the origin of its name.

To review the entire online MDC identification guide of Missouri's turtles, CLICK HERE.

It is illegal to capture, sell or trade Missouri's turtles for the pet industry.