Turtles

Fencing for turtles

Roads and construction sites are hazardous locations for turtles. While their hardened shell (with a bony carapace above and a plastron below) is sufficient defence against most natural predators, it is no protection from passing motor vehicles or earth-moving equipment. Additionally, on poorly fenced construction sites they are at risk of becoming trapped or injured in trenches, pipework, and machinery.

It is not uncommon to see freshwater turtles alongside highways and tracks in spring, summer, and fall. They commute across roads and construction sites as they search for food, or for mating partners, and as they move from pool to pool. Being ectotherms (“cold-blooded”), they are often attracted to the warmth of road surfaces. There, they will stop and retract into their shell in response to traffic. If commuting across a highway, they are usually slow-moving.

In the nesting season, female turtles are especially vulnerable, since they often dig into and lay their eggs in banks of gravel or sand on construction sites, highway shoulders, or gravel tracks. This is particularly true of sites near to ditches or wetlands. An additional problem is that breeding pools may be in-filled in large developments, so the animals will consciously be trying to locate them in the midst of construction work. If new ponds have been created as part of mitigation measures, fencing can be used not only to keep the turtles off site, but to direct them towards the new pools.