'Give turtles a brake,' says state, warning drivers the reptiles are crossing roads to lay eggs

Look out — that slow-moving circular shape ambling across the road might be a turtle seeking a springtime romance.

Having spent the winter underwater, thousands of turtles seeking to nest and lay eggs all around New York State instead will perish under the wheels of cars and trucks in May and June, experts say.

So "Give Turtles A Brake," the agency said in a statement Wednesday, asking motorists at a minimum to slow down and steer around any turtles on the blacktop.

For anyone who can stop safely to move a turtle out of the road, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has some advice. Firstly, "motorists should consider moving the turtle to the shoulder on the side of the road in the direction it was facing," the agency says.

Placing it in the opposite direction means it likely will just turn around and head back into danger, experts said.

Secondly, as long as it is not a snapping turtle, rescuers should pick it up by the sides of the shell — not the tail, as that might harm it, the DEC says.

Be wary if it is a snapping turtle.

"Snapping turtles have necks that can reach a long distance and have a strong bite, so if motorists try to help a snapping turtle, they should pick it up by the rear of the shell near the tail using both hands or slide a car mat under the turtle to drag it safely across the road," the DEC says.

And don’t try to make it a pet; that requires a DEC permit.

Long Islanders also can turn to Jamestown's Turtle Rescue for help. The not-for-profit estimates it has saved 1,500 turtles since it began in 2009: http://www.turtlerescueofthehamptons.org.

The rarest turtle on Long Island is the tiny Mud Turtle, which favors marshes and ponds. Just three to four inches in diameter, the DEC calls it "a small, nondescript reptile" with an olive shell. Still, that little creature can travel as far as 1,300 feet from a pond to a nest, it says.

All of the state’s 11 species of land turtles, from the Eastern Box to the Northern Diamondback Terrapin, are declining, the DEC says. As it takes so long for them to reach breeding age even the death of one female further imperils the local population.