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Chicago's Turtles Are Crossing The Road To Lay Their Eggs

By Justin Breen | May 22, 2017 5:24am | Updated on May 26, 2017 9:11am

CHICAGO — City drivers: It's time to start watching out for turtles crossing the road.

There's a good chance you'll see a turtle on or a near a busy Chicago street this month as the reptiles begin to lay their eggs. Many times, they deposit the eggs in the soft dirt along a city street's shoulder.

Turtles in the area can grow to be up to 70 pounds and live up to 70 years, according to Chris Anchor of the Forest Preserves District of Cook County. They sometimes lay eggs near roadways because those locations have frequent sunlight plus the right soil type, Anchor said.

"There aren't a whole lot of options for the animals," Anchor said in 2014. "They can only go where sunlight is hitting the ground or where they can dig. ... It's a double whammy. If the turtle has to cross the road, it's a danger, and it's a dangerous place to lay its eggs, too."

Anchor said there is no exact count of the number of turtles within city limits, but he said any area with a waterway — including Jackson Park, Gompers Park, Humboldt Park, Lincoln Park, Garfield Park, Powderhorn Marsh and Prairie, Eggers Woods and LaBagh Woods — has the shelled reptiles.

Common snapping turtles, painted turtles and red-eared sliders are native to Illinois, but non-native species like yellow-bellied chicken turtles and mata mata are frequent finds in Chicago because "people are fond of dumping pets they don't like," Anchor said.

Anchor said turtles usually lay between 8-14 eggs, with productivity dropping as their age increases. Unlike alligators and some species of snakes whose parents protect their young, once turtle babies hatch, they are on their own. The eggs laid this month will either hatch in September or October, or they'll incubate for a full year and hatch next May, Anchor said.