What will get me three?
"College student’s turtle project takes dark twist" by Jeffrey Collins | Associated Press, December 28, 2012
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson University student Nathan Weaver set out to determine how to help turtles cross the road. He ended up getting a glimpse into the dark souls of some humans.
Weaver put a realistic rubber turtle in the middle of a lane on a busy road near campus. Then he got out of the way and watched over the next hour as seven drivers swerved and deliberately ran over the animal. Several more apparently tried to hit it but missed.
‘‘I’ve heard of people and from friends who knew people that ran over turtles. But to see it out here like this was a bit shocking,’’ said Weaver, a 22-year-old senior in Clemson’s School of Agricultural, Forest, and Environmental Sciences.
To seasoned researchers, the practice wasn’t surprising.
The number of box turtles is in slow decline, and one big reason is that many wind up as roadkill while crossing the asphalt, a slow and steady trip that can take several minutes.
Sometimes humans feel a need to prove they are the dominant species on this planet by taking a 2-ton metal vehicle and squishing a defenseless creature, said Hal Herzog, a Western Carolina University psychology professor.
‘‘They aren’t thinking, really. It is not something people think about. It just seems fun at the time,’’ Herzog said. ‘‘It is the dark side of human nature.’’
Related:
"We were terrible to animals," recalled
Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. "We'd
put firecrackers in the frogs and throw
them and blow them up." When he was not blowing up frogs, young
George -- always restless and something of
a natural leader -- would lead neighborhood
children on daredevil expeditions around town."
What sick s*** would want to torture poor animals?
Herzog asked a class of about 110 students getting ready to take a final whether they had intentionally run over a turtle, or been in a car with someone who did. Thirty-four students raised their hands, about two-thirds of them male, said Herzog, author of a book about humans’ relationships with animals, called ‘‘Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat.’’
Good point on the carnivore aspect of human society and the rest.
Weaver wants to figure out the best way to get turtles safely across the road and keep the population from dwindling further.
Among the possible solutions: turtle underpasses or an education campaign aimed at teenagers on why drivers shouldn’t mow turtles down.
Why do they always blame the kids?
The first time Weaver went out to collect data on turtles, he chose a spot down the road from a big apartment complex that caters to students. He counted 267 vehicles that passed by, seven of them intentionally hitting his rubber reptile.
It takes a turtle seven or eight years to become mature enough to reproduce, and in that time, it might make several trips across the road to get from one pond to another, looking for food or a place to lay eggs. A female turtle that lives 50 years might lay over 100 eggs, but just two or three are likely to survive to reproduce, said Weaver’s professor, Rob Baldwin.
Snakes also get run over deliberately. Baldwin wishes that weren’t the case, but he understands, considering the widespread fear and loathing of snakes. But why anyone would want to run over turtles is a mystery to the professor.
Wow, speciesism.
We have a garter snake out in the garden and I'm thinking of him as a pet.
--more--"
Related: Nurse from Danvers hurt in S.C. hit-run
Probably trying to hit a turtle.
Seven more stranded turtles rescued
Because the water is too cold?
What else is down there?
Confederate submarine mystery deepens with new clues
Globe didn't have to dive that deep.
