Every year, Jeff Briggler sees the same three-toed box turtle.
"In Callaway County, where I live, I found where this box turtle [spends the winter], and it's a small depression in the woods," he said. "I've seen it seven years in a row, to the exact same hole."
Briggler is the state's herpetologist and has spent decades studying reptiles and amphibians. He said every year, around late spring, thousands of turtles begin their yearly search for places to forage, find mates and lay eggs, and will return when the temperature cools again.
But sometimes that means crossing Missouri's roadways. As summer nears and temperatures rise, Briggler said drivers might see more turtles on their daily commutes. So the Missouri Department of Conservation is asking drivers to look out for the roving reptiles.
"We believe that thousands are run over annually, and we do know that car fatalities are one of the leading causes of turtle deaths in Missouri," said department spokesperson Jill Pritchard.
Habitat fragmentation — the splintering of an animal's environment into separate pieces — is a major reason why some species of box turtle are vulnerable. If a highway splits a turtle's ecosystem, it'll often try to cross it.
"Luckily for us, we're a Midwestern state," Briggler said. "Yes, we have a decent number of roads, but nothing like the Northeast. The other thing is we have a lot of pristine habitat for this animal still, in the Ozarks. There's a lot of great forests remaining in our state."
Briggler said this year, the state's official reptile was particularly lucky. The weather is usually warm enough starting around Memorial Day for three toed-box turtles to begin moving — but last week's long weekend saw colder temperatures.
"As a herpetologist, you're actually excited to see that the mass movement doesn't occur on a major holiday weekend, because if it does, there's a lot more cars on the road, and the probability of turtles getting killed are a lot higher," Briggler said.
The box turtle helps control the population of their prey, namely insects, snails and earthworms. While young turtles and eggs provide food for skunks, raccoons, and badgers, adults are usually protected by their shell. Briggler said that's one of the things that keeps them alive for so long, typically for 50 to 80 years.
"When you see a box turtle crossing the road, it's probably a lot older than you are," he said.
If drivers want to help a turtle cross the road, Briggler said there's a few things to keep in mind. Most importantly, don't return it to where it came from. Instead, help it get where it's going.
"If you put it back on the side that you pulled over on, it's still going to cross that road. It's got an instinct that it's going to go somewhere," he said.
Because of how common they are, Briggler said most turtles that appear on roads are the harmless three-toed box turtle, which gets its name for having three toes on its back legs, typically. It has five toes on its front legs and a dome-shaped shell about "softball size."
"When you pick them up, they are just going to close their shell," he said. "They're called a box turtle for that reason. They close up like a box and most people are not afraid of them."
"Now, if you're crossing along a big snapping turtle, yes, those are going to attempt to bite you, and they're a lot more difficult to get across the road," he added. "You definitely have to be a lot more conscientious of some of the other turtles to not get bitten, and there are safe ways to pick them up, but I wouldn't tell the novice to just go out and pick them up."
Briggler said he sometimes works with the Missouri Department of Transportation to keep turtles safe by building fences that discourage them from crossing the road. And sometimes, Briggler's team aids the turtles on their journey by constructing tunnels underneath roads and in road barriers. That also helps them monitor the animals that use those paths, allowing the department to collect more data.
"They're part of our biodiversity," he said. "It's our state reptile, and we owe it to that turtle to continue to be part of our state biodiversity, and that's how I view my job. When I came into my job, I wanted to make sure the number of amphibian, reptile species that occur in this state are still in this state."
The turtle near Briggler's home has begun its own trek, heading out to forage for food. Once the weather cools down, Briggler will be waiting to see its spot filled again.
"I'm so excited when I see that turtle again, just to know, here's another year it made it," he said. "They're like us, they're creatures of habit. They're going to return back to that location — as long as that turtle survives."
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