This week, I was surprised to discover two turtle crossing signs that had been installed at the terrapin roadkill hotspot we've been surveying each week. I don't expect the signs to solve the wildlife road mortality problem here (Seburn & McCurdy-Adams 2019), but they can only help remind drivers to be alert and keep an eye out for turtles. Having the signs in place could very well save the lives of a few terrapins, and also save drivers from guilt or stress associated with accidentally hitting an animal with their car. Some sort of physical barrier that keeps turtles out of the road may be needed to really see a difference in roadkill numbers.
Although I observed many terrapins in the water during the survey (I counted at least 31 terrapin heads in one location!), I found no evidence indicating any new nesting since last week. Thus, nesting season seems to be over for this population. I expect to start finding hatchling and juvenile terrapins later this summer. A small road-killed snake (not identifiable to species) was the only casualty documented this week. It's possible some juvenile and hatchling terrapins might be saved by the new crossing signs as they move about in the coming months, but we'll have to wait until next nesting season to see if there's any substantial difference in vehicles strikes for adult terrapins. As the number of terrapins attempting to nest along this road could change from year to year, there will be no way to know for sure if these signs have any influence on roadkill numbers.
No new donations have come in to the fundraising campaign since last week. Additional donations are needed to continue surveying this location past September and to survey potential road mortality hotspots identified in other parts of the state. Also, more funds are needed for litter removal, data analysis, writing reports, and communicating findings. Please consider making a donation, and please consider sharing the crowdfunding page if you'd like to help raise awareness for this work. I also welcome any feedback regarding ways to make crowdfunding or the project itself more impactful. Thank you!
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