Scaly Friends

Spring is sprung! Please watch out for our scaly friends!

Let’s face it—it’s tough being cold-blooded. We humans may feel that we are at the mercy of the weather, especially here at the World Bird Sanctuary where we spent a long, hard winter under ice and snow.  But the truth is we should be glad we’re not reptiles—stuck hiding out under mud, rocks, and rotting logs, trying to find enough heat to survive the winter. 

 Nothing like a nice warm pile of bark chips for sunning after a long cold winter

Now that the sun is out more often and the air is warming, the ground is warming too, prompting the cold-blooded locals to reemerge.  Since reptiles can only be as warm as the air around them, on a cool, sunny day they may seek out a flat surface that warms quickly on which to bask.  Ideally, this surface is a nice rock in a forest or clearing.  Unfortunately, it is often a sidewalk or a road.  Reptiles are presented with a tough choice living around humans.  If they don’t warm up enough to run their organ systems, they could die.  If a car clips the sunny road shoulder where they’re sunning, well…you know the rest.  It is the proverbial rock and a hard place. 

In the Spring a male Box Turtle's fancy turns to thoughts of love

As spring progresses, another natural instinct will take over—the need to move to a particular breeding ground.  Many types of reptiles have to migrate to a breeding area each year, and that area may be a distance away from where they’ve spent their winter.  Why did the box turtle cross the road?  The need to breed—that’s why.  And boy, are they focused! 

We can help these creatures out by being aware while we’re enjoying driving with the windows down again.  Watch for snakes, turtles and lizards in the road, especially in more wooded or rural areas.  Of course, use caution and concern for your own safety and the safety of other drivers, but where possible, try to maneuver around these reptiles.  They may not be warm enough to move very quickly even if they feel the vibrations of the car coming. 

As for the pokey turtles crossing the roads, try to avoid them too.  If you are in a position to safely move the turtle out of the road, please remember this:  always, ALWAYS put the turtle on the side of the road it was going towards when you found it, not back the way it came from.  Sometimes people assume the turtle must want to be by the closest body of water, but that isn’t always so.  Turtles have little brains, but make up for it in stubbornness!  They know where they’re heading and will turn right around, back into the path you just thwarted them from.  Turtles appreciate our help as long as we stick with their plan! 

Reptiles are wonderful animals and they all play important parts in their habitats.  Even if scaly critters like snakes aren’t your favorite up-close-and-personal friends, remember that all the mice they eat could otherwise end up in your garage, eating your birdseed…or your wiring…or into your house—yuck.  Celebrate the reptiles that made it through the winter by helping them survive the spring!

Submitted by Dana Lambert, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist