The Outdoors and Conservation News is updated every Wednesday afternoon. Previous outdoors and conservation news are also available on-line. It is time for many of Wisconsin's turtle species to begin moving around in search of nesting sites, prompting state wildlife officials to remind people that new rules in effect this year prohibit anyone from harvesting turtles until July 15. Turtles on roads or long distances from water are not lost. They are simply looking for appropriate places to nest or are travelling to other wetlands.
Turtles often cross roads near wetlands looking for an upland site to bury their eggs.
In addition to the danger of being hit by vehicles while crossing roads, they became easy prey for people who pick them up either to eat or to keep as pets, Hay says. Snapping turtles are on the decline in Wisconsin. Turtle trappers were among the first to notice the decline, and many of them supported the new regulations, including a change in the season. Under the new rules, snapping turtles must be a minimum of 12 inches and a maximum of 16 inches measured from front to back across the top shell. Adult female turtles are the most vulnerable during this period, because they head out in search of nesting sites.