Slow and Steady Wins the Race

by Leah Dittberner

As warmer temperatures confirm the promise of summer, I have been riding my bike to nearby boat landings where I conduct Clean Boats, Clean Waters surveys. The phenomenal new bike path has allowed me get out of the mundane routine of driving. Upon slowing down, I am able to smell the fragrant pines, spy wildflowers off the bike path, and hear birds singing from their far off perches. While I am absolutely delighted to be able to experience this along my commute, I am becoming increasingly aware of one of the tragedies of modern times. As we carry out our fast-paced lives, our impacts on the environment simultaneously occur at a rapid pace.  While we continue to lose plant and animal species across all biomes due to habitat fragmentation, water diversion, climate change, etc, my concern here is for one particularly slow-moving group. Turtles are known to take their time, making roads a dangerous place for our little shelled friends.

Relatives of turtles have been on the planet since the late Triassic Period of the Mesozoic era. Continents have shifted, mountains have formed, and the turtle has witnessed it all. They are remarkable creatures; regulating their own body temperature as cold-blooded creatures do, fully adapted to life within a shell. These are but a few of the reasons that I am troubled upon seeing so many turtles reduced to rubble on the roadside. Turtles have been here far longer than modern man and his automobile, yet we run over these relics of ancient history, these clues to the evolution of life on earth, without thinking twice about that which we are destroying.

Of course, these turtle strikes are unintentional, a product of our fast-paced world dependent on automobiles for transportation.  Regardless, I encourage everyone to remember the message of the popular children’s story. Slow and steady wins the race, and Turtle’s millions of years of life on this planet suggest there might be truth to this fable.

Who knows, cautious driving might even be rewarded with a glimpse like the one pictured below, a reminder of the miracle of life.

A female painted turtle lays her eggs along County Highway K