Snapping turtles are frequent road mortality victims and safe intervention by humans can save individual animals.
Snapping turtle road mortality has outsized population impacts because long-lived turtles have very low recruitment rates. Most eggs and juveniles die before reaching reproductive age, making adult survival critical. Turtles killed on roads include individuals who may have been reproducing for decades. Individuals found on roads should be moved in the direction they were traveling, not relocated elsewhere. Grabbing the tail and supporting the body prevents both the turtle biting the rescuer and limb damage from dangling.