Lucky Turtle

- jim Young

“Try to be like the turtle - at ease in your own shell.” Bill Copeland

This is one lucky turtle. As I rounded a corner on Highway 522 toward Farley’s Corners I spotted this turtle crossing the road in my lane. She was too close to stop at the speed I was driving. To an outside observer, it would appear as if I took no evasive action. I knew if I swerved to the right, my left wheels would have crushed her. And likewise, if I swerved to the left, my right wheels would have crushed her.

Instead I adjusted my steering only slightly in the hopes that I could drive right over top of the turtle and avoid hitting her with any of my wheels. 

It was a successful manoeuvre. 

I slowed, stopped and turned back with the intent of helping this turtle safely across the road. As I neared the turtle who was now almost at the center line, a truck came up behind me and I could see it was preparing to pass. I worried that the driver was concentrating on my vehicle to make a safe pass and would not see… or worse not care that there was a turtle in his path.

Unable to take any safe action to save the turtle I held my breath. Only when the truck had passed the turtle untouched did I dare to breathe again. Had the truck driver taken the same evasive action I had taken to avoid running over the turtle with his wheels and leave her unscathed? Or was it sheer luck? I’ll never know.

By now I was just a few feet from the turtle and pulling over to the shoulder when yet another vehicle was closing in on me from behind. The turtle was now just over the center line so, with my hazard lights on, instead of pulling as far onto the shoulder as I would typically have done, only my right tires touched the shoulder as I came to a complete stop. This left the bulk of our vehicle blocking the lane and forcing the passing motorist to move fully into the opposite lane to pass me, thereby eliminating any chance of hitting the turtle.

Some turtles will withdraw into their shell when they perceive danger. Others will pee in the hopes of scaring away their predators. This little gal chose to make a run for it so all I had to do was make certain she kept her focus on the direction she should be headed. This also allowed me to focus on any more potential danger coming down the road. The turtle was soon safely across the road with three near misses in the last 10 minutes under her belt.

As we turned our vehicle around to continue on our journey, 3 more vehicles were soon on my tail. I checked the rear view mirror to make certain the little gal we had stopped to help across the road hadn’t turned back. 

She hadn’t.

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