Wayward turtle stops traffic on Memorial
An 89-pound alligator snapping turtle — about 70 years old — wanders onto Memorial Drive, out of his stormhit home in Buffalo Bayou.
Like Houstonians, turtles, apparently, can get storm fatigue.
An 89-pound alligator snapping turtle wandered onto Memorial Drive early Tuesday, out of his home in Buffalo Bayou.
The turtle — a male believed to be about 70 years old — likely came up for air after hunkering down in the depths of the bayou during rainfall caused by Hurricane Harvey, said Kelly Norrid, urban wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Houston Police Department officers spotted the turtle before 4 a.m. at the peril of oncoming traffic at the intersection of Memorial and Waugh.
The turtle was whisked off to the Wildlife Center of Texas, a group within the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Animals, according to HPD.
He was diagnosed with dehydration, but was otherwise healthy.
The Wildlife Center of Texas, which usually rescues between 10,000 and 11,000 wild animals every year, has been particularly busy following record flooding in the Houston area. Since the hurricane hit, the center has rescued almost 500 animals — pelicans, baby squirrels, magnificent frigatebirds and rabbits that had been washed out of their dens, said Sharon Schmalz, executive director of the center.
This turtle appears to have been the first to be rescued since Harvey, but he isn’t the only one in Buffalo Bayou.
An ongoing, nearly yearlong research study conducted by the global organization Turtle Survival Alliance has revealed that more than two dozen alligator snapping turtles have settled down in the three miles of the bayou from downtown to the Bayou Bend area — an unusually high population for an urban region, Norrid said.
Common snapping turtles also live in the bayou.
Houstonians should avoid approaching either without proper training, Norrid said. But, coming across an alligator snapping turtle might be preferable.
“Common snapping turtles have a bit of nastier disposition,” Norrid added.
The turtle that wandered Tuesday onto Memorial had already been spotted nearby by scientists conducting their research — he was tagged in February.
The fact that he was found so close to home has assuaged some concerns about the effects of flooding on the state-designated threatened species.
“So it’s actually kind of hopeful that the turtles that were in Buffalo Bayou weren’t displaced very far,” Norrid said.
After being deemed ready to go back into the wild, the turtle was returned home to Buffalo Bayou on Tuesday afternoon.
He likely won’t be wandering off again anytime soon. They tend to stick to their territories, Schmalz said.
When asked if this turtle’s excursion entitled him to a name, Schmalz scoffed. “Come on, he is a wild animal.”
But, she added, someone has probably already christened him Harvey. (Schmalz’s guess was correct: Channel 13 reporter Courtney Fischer gave him the name early Tuesday.)
If anyone spots another alligator snapping turtle, Texas Parks and Wildlife wants to hear about it, Norrid said.