Every spring for as long as I can remember, my phone rings off the hook with turtle removal requests. My rescue isn't permitted for native wildlife, but people see reptiles and call.

From The Morning Sun:

Typically, the turtles — in Crawford County, most are the common snapping turtle, red-eared slider, map turtle and box turtle — winter in the mud near the bottom of a pond, according to Fort Hays State University's Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas. Their low oxygen requirement allows their skin to absorb enough oxygen through the water. But their habitat may have changed, so it's off to greener pastures, and mates.

It's also egg-laying season, and the turtles are looking for safe habitats in which to construct their nests. With the exception of snapping turtles, they also could be on the prowl for the juicy droppings of a mulberry tree, Glick said.

"They love those," he said

But roads are a problem, and while a large snapping turtle could throw off a vehicle's alignment, the consequences are, of course, much more dire for the hapless turtles.

Glick said it's OK to move turtles off the road as long as it's safe to stop, but he recommends determining their direction of travel first.

"They may just turn around and go back to the other side," he said.

"It's also possible to move snapping turtles. Glick doesn't recommend moving them, but said that if someone were so inclined as to try, he or she should pick the turtle up by its tale, leaving its underside facing toward the person's body and at a safe distance.

To read the ful article, click here. And remember to watch for turtles crossing the road. They are just trying to get to the other side.