Cycling Adventures: Saving Turtles

Something that's been on my mind a lot lately is the number of animals I see on my daily route that have been hit by cars. There are lots of marshes in Charleston and it's been raining a lot this summer, so the majority have been reptiles - turtles and snakes, along with the standard squirrel and raccoon. Recently I saw an alligator, though, and a month ago I saw a dog. That one was hard to deal with, having had dogs for much of my life. I know it's something that can't always be avoided, but it's upsetting to see it so frequently and so close up. Yes, most of these are accidents, but only in a car can something as serious as killing another living being on your way to work be considered a common accident that just comes with the territory. It illustrates how much a car removes the driver from the world around them and the potential severity of the result. It throws into sharp contrast the connectedness I feel on my bike and the numerous positive interactions I get to have with the world around me.

However, the titles of this post is Saving Turtles, and there's a good reason for that. On two recent occasions, I've come across a turtle right in my path trying to cross the road. One (pictured) was on a side drive with very little vehicular traffic, but the other was venturing onto a very busy major road. In that instance I was fortunate: there was no traffic behind me, so I was able to stop, put my bike on the sidewalk, and grab the turtle out of the road with no risk to myself. The turtle didn't seem all too thrilled by this and hissed at me, but I found a nearby drainage ditch that seemed as good a place as any for a turtle. Better than a highway, certainly.

So why am I sharing this? Just to ask that you keep an eye out for the many other beings that inhabit this world of ours and give them a hand whenever possible. And if you're in a car, pay attention - you may not be able to avoid everything in the road, but every once in a while you might be able to save an animal from becoming another accident. That's worth it.