Why did the tortoise cross the road?

[AZRedhawk44]

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/10/14/gargantuan-tortoise-fatally-struck-on-interstate-10-in-riverside-county/

See the TURTLE of enormous girth! 
On his shell he holds the Earth an 18-wheeler.

[grampster]

Why did the turtle cross the road?

[RoadKingLarry]

Why did the turtle cross the road?

Technically it didn't, quite.

I wonder if some arsehat hit it on purpose? I've seen low lifes go out of there way to hit critters in the road.
When I was in VA we almost got to see a lynching over it. traffic was kind of slow and a mother duck and a bunch of babies were walkiing on the side of the road. Pickup driver swerves and takes out the momma duck and about half the babies. The traffic came to a halt. If a cop hadn't come from the other way and stopped it I think the crowd would have drug him out of the truck.

[BobR]

I wonder if some arsehat hit it on purpose?

That's what I was thinking, a 100lb tortoise isn't exactly a small bump in the road.

bob

[Balog]

I doubt it was intentional, a big tortoise would just look like a rock at speed (was this at night?) Who tries to run over a giant rock while doing 80?

[Ryan in Maine]

Dudes, I don't believe it weighed 100-150 lbs. That's hugegantic for a desert tortoise.

[brimic]

I wonder if some arsehat hit it on purpose? I've seen low lifes go out of there way to hit critters in the road.
When I was in VA we almost got to see a lynching over it. traffic was kind of slow and a mother duck and a bunch of babies were walkiing on the side of the road. Pickup driver swerves and takes out the momma duck and about half the babies. The traffic came to a halt. If a cop hadn't come from the other way and stopped it I think the crowd would have drug him out of the truck.

We had a guy charged with poaching recently- security cameras of a nearby building showed him purposely accelerating and crossing the centerline to hit a doe and a fawn.

[makattak]

You know, it's rather interesting seeing "Soup Day!" right beneath this thread...

[AZRedhawk44]

Dudes, I don't believe it weighed 100-150 lbs. That's hugegantic for a desert tortoise.

I came across one that was about 12 inches across, about 3 years ago.  They're pretty rare to find.  He was about 15 pounds.





Seems that someone has released some giant african tortoises into the Sonoran or Mojave desert areas... there are confirmed sightings and captures of 100+ pound african tortoises.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/huge-100-pound-african-tortoise-found-roaming-arizona-desert

[Tallpine]

Why did the turtle cross the road?

To change a light bulb.   

[never_retreat]

Turtles are the only critter I stop for and move across the road.
I did not say Highway just a road.
I drug one that was about 2 feet long across the road, not sure what it weighed, but it was heavy. Turtles of any type are a rare site around here and I feel bad for them.

[Tallpine]

The river turtles wander about here during the summer.

They get maybe 6-8" at the shell 

[freakazoid]

You know, it's rather interesting seeing "Soup Day!" right beneath this thread...

Before I hit send and bring this to the top, Ramming Speed was two above this. 

I've seen someone intentionally swerve to hit a turtle. Bastards, I once saw a very large turtle, I actually think it was an alligator turtle, trying to cross the road. Pulled over to try to get it across but it didn't seem to want me near it so I decided to let it fend for itself and hope people would see it and not hit it.

[makattak]

I once saw a very large turtle, I actually think it was an alligator turtle, trying to cross the road. Pulled over to try to get it across but it didn't seem to want me near it so I decided to let it fend for itself and hope people would see it and not hit it.

I saw the same once. Massive, likely snapping turtle.

It was on the other side of the road and as I was pulling over to try to help it across, someone apparently thought they could straddle him.

No such luck.

Snapping turtles are mean creatures, but I still didn't want to see that.

[Tallpine]

I hate running over critters - even rattlesnakes.

Seems like an awful way to go.   

[RoadKingLarry]

Some of the river turtles aroun dhere can get damn big.
In the early '80s a snapping turtle was pulled out of a large creek near here. Head to tail it was over 5' long. They tried to get it to the Tulsa Zoo but it died before they could get it there. It was mounted and displayed around Vinita for several years. I saw it in '85. It was mounted with it's mouth open. I could pass a coke can trhough it's open mouth. It was reported to have been over 200 years old at the time it was caught.

[John G]

"What's a tortoise?" -Leon

[MechAg94]

That's what I was thinking, a 100lb tortoise isn't exactly a small bump in the road.

bob

Yeah, if it was that big, I'd like to see the vehicle that hit it and drove away.  That is getting into wild hog size.