Tuesday I was driving home from work. Everybody else was driving from work as well, so it was the rush hour.

I’m talking about Durham rush hour, it was nothing like LA, but still – lots of cars. The road I drive goes through a small wetland, with cypresses on both sides. There were no cars ahead of me at that moment, and I mindlessly scanned the road in front of me, listening to “Broken Wings” – sang by you know who.

Far ahead on the left side of the road, I noticed something like an unusual pile of mud. I passed by it , looked at it briefly.
I drove about 100 more yards, before my brain registered that what I saw was not a mound of dirt, but a huge snapping turtle, trying to cross the road!!!

OMG! Red alert!

I pulled over to the right. I walked back quickly, with only one thought – “I must help this turtle”. I stood next to him, determined to not move out of the cars’ way, until he was safe. He made a few clumsy steps, and was now in the middle of the lane. Cars approached from both directions, and stopped of course - the ones on the left, because they had to, since I was in their way; the ones on the right – because the first driver stopped out of curiosity, and was making comments - friendly, I must say. Other drivers opened their widows and were sticking their heads out, trying to give me advices of what to do. I was a little embarrassed , so I gave the snapper an encouraging push with my foot. He immediately turned around, and made a leap toward my foot, and snapped his jaws. I looked at his face, and he gave me a very evil eye.

Still, I was absolutely determined to not let him be hit by a car. But since he was aware of my presence now, he kept turning around whichever way I moved, to face me. Some drivers didn’t want to wait, so they drove around the two of us. Some drivers kept watching and giving me encouraging words, and words of excitement about the size of the turtle. Some lady said – “Can you push him forward with a stick”? Well, there were no sticks. A gentleman said to me (from the safety of his car): “If you just grab him by the back of his shell, you can lift him and carry him, he won’t be able to do anything to you”.
However, I hesitated, because I remember tales of snapping turtles having long necks, and being able to turn their had around to bite. A brief thought of picking him up by the tail crossed my mind, but I rejected it, as too brutal. Also, I had doubts if I could pick him up at all, because he looked darn heavy.

The situation had to be resolved quickly. I was concerned that the lines of cars standing now on both sides of the road were growing in length. So, I gave it a try. I walked quickly behind the turtle, and grabbed the sides of hid shell. I lifted him , and I estimated he had to weigh about 15-20 pounds. I know that, because my neighbors cat is 15 pounds, and I pick him up frequently. As I was carrying the turtle to the little pond where he had intended to get to, people in the cars cheered. That was nice. Meanwhile the monster was kicking his feet, and he managed to scratch my pinkie. His claws were an inch long! I let him out by the water and he crawled down the slope. He was safe. Cars were leaving, drivers waved. Ugh! I wish there was no circus like that. But I felt quite happy I saved this magnificent creature from being smashed by a car. I’m sure this would have happened.

I noticed my pinkie was bleeding heavily, and I remembered information that turtles sometimes carry a deadly Salmonella bacteria. Was I going to die? Oh well, if I was told that , I would be satisfied that I was dying for a worthy cause. No regrets.