Family’s roadside assistance saves 16 snapping turtles
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LANSING -- With her shell cracked into numerous pieces, the mother turtle lay motionless in the road with her eggs scattered around her.
That's when Erin Hug and her daughter drove by.
After spotting the injured turtle lying in the road near Battle Creek last summer, Hug stepped in to help and transferred the turtle on a tote lid and into her car and drove it into Battle Creek.
"This poor turtle had been run over," said Hug. "Clearly, her injuries were quite extensive. When my daughter and I went over to check on her, we did notice that she was still alive."
Hug rescued the turtle and her eggs, and that is when she called All Species Kinship, a local wildlife rehabilitation center.
All Species Kinship works towards two main goals of reducing animal suffering and getting the animals back into the wild to be productive members of their population, said Sophia DiPietro, the co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization.
"We pride ourselves on being a very rapid response team," said DiPietro. "We've learned over the years that many people don't realize that an injured turtle can actually have a second chance at life."
"Our first priority is to reduce their suffering," she said. "We get them to an experienced reptile vet immediately, and they go through a series of diagnostics."
Sadly, the turtle's injuries were too severe, and she couldn't be saved. But the vet noticed she had not laid all of her eggs, so the rest were removed and put into an incubator, Hug said.
"The vet clinic gives them medication, which induces the eggs to come out," DiPietro said. "At that point, the eggs go into incubators, and they're labeled, and that process starts, completely separately from the adult turtle that comes back into our custody for continued rehab."
It takes turtles up to 20 years to have eggs and reproduce, so conservation is extremely important, said DiPietro.
Hug's actions saved 16 turtles, she added.
Once the baby turtles were back from the clinic, the Hug family was contacted to help locate where the turtles were found and release them back into the wild, said Hug.
"We were out there in our boots and the kids put gloves on and they reached in there and they grabbed the little babies and put them right back in the swamp," said Hug.
DiPietro said if the turtles had belonged to a rare species, they would be kept over the winter and bulked up so they have a better chance of survival. They tend to be just the size of a quarter when hatched.
It's extremely important that the turtles go back to the spot they came from, DiPietro said.
She suggests if you find an injured turtle, to mark in your GPS where it was found so it can get back to its original area.
DiPietro said that situation can inspire kids and get them out into nature.
Hug said that was true for her children.
"What a great experience for my kids to see full circle what just stopping and having a little compassion can do," Hug said.
Samantha Plunkett writes for Great Lakes Echo.