ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – There is a new warning about turtles for St. Louis area drivers. An alarming number of turtles are being hit and killed on Highway 367 from St. Charles County into Alton, Illinois.
There are so many turtles trying to cross the highway there that people have been pulling over to get out of their cars and carry the turtles to safety.
Margaret Kinder of Alton is one of those people.
“It’s like more than a football field full of dead turtles,” she said. “I stopped, took about 5 (living turtles) off the road. They’re trying to cross probably trying to lay eggs this time of year.”
Crossing Hwy. 367 would be daunting for people, let alone all the turtles living in the wetlands surrounding the highway. The Army Corps of Engineers Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary adjacent to the highway is also home to a large turtle population.
Thirty to 40 carcasses now line the shoulders of the construction zone where highway lanes are being raised and straightened to cut down on crashes and flooding. New lane barricades may make it tougher on what Missouri Department of Conservation spokesperson Dan Zarlenga, confirmed were likely female turtles leaving water in search of nesting areas on land.
“All of those are females that are getting hit. There won’t be any more eggs to lay. This is a conservation area,” Kinder said.
The Missouri Department of Conservation reported vehicles are a leading threat to the box turtle species common to the area, which can live for 50 – 80 years or more.
The department urged drivers to slow down and be mindful of the turtles, when possible, without endangering other drivers; straddle turtles on the highway between your tires when possible; if you stop and pick up the turtles to move them along (be weary of snapping turtles) do so in the direction they were headed.
Kinder also called on highway workers to help move the turtles along when possible.
“If you can save one life, no matter if it’s an animal or a person, you’ve done something,” Kinder said.
Zarlenga said the nesting period would likely continue for another week or two.