Recent studies suggest that freshwater turtle populations are becoming increasingly male-biased. A hypothesized cause is a greater vulnerability of female turtles to road mortality. We evaluated this hypothesis by comparing sex ratios from published and unpublished population surveys of turtles conducted on-versus offroads. Among 38 166 turtles from 157 studies reporting sex ratios, we found a consistently larger female fraction in samples from on-roads (61%) than off-roads (41%). We conclude that female turtles are indeed more likely to cross roadways than are males, which may explain recently reported skewed sex ratios near roadways and signify eventual population declines as females are differentially eliminated.

The following websites have been useful to the authors and contain a wide variety of information on various species of herpetiles. These resources can be invaluable to rehabilitators receiving a new species or seeking additional information on one more familiar.

As autumn approaches, wildlife rehabilitators must make decisions concerning their turtle patients. All chelonians (turtles and tortoises) take a longer time to heal than birds and mammals, and many will need to remain in captivity over the winter to allow time to completely recover. Sick or injured turtles must not be hibernated during the overwintering process. They must be kept warm and active, and continue to receive optimum nutrition. The following are some techniques used by Turtle Rescue of New Jersey (TRONJ) to convince turtles that summer is endless.

Headstarting is the hatching and rearing of turtles in captivity until they reach a size that will discourage predation. Headstarted turtles may be kept in captivity from several months to a few years before they are released. There are two purposes: to boost populations, and/or to establish new nesting sites (most often used with sea turtles). Although some have argued that headstarting turtles increases their chances for survival, others believe that headstarting is useless if it does not address other causes of species decline. In some cases, it may actually be harmful to turtles.