(Or, “What not to do if you find an injured turtle”)
These stories are true, but names and details have been changed or omitted to protect the hopelessly misguided. See if you can figure out which finder got it right.
| Finder 1 | Finder 2 |
|---|---|
| Call a licensed rehabber. | Call at least three rehabbers, two vet clinics, and a zoo and frantically leave messages at all of them without waiting more than a minute for a return call or text before calling someone else and therefore lose track of who you’re talking to. |
| Calmly provide your contact information. | Refuse to give your name/address. |
| Give the most precise location you can of where the turtle was found. | Don’t give more detail than a town or highway name for the turtle’s location. |
| Send a clear picture of the animal to the rehabber. | Poorly describe the animal and don’t send pictures/send them to someone else instead of the rehabber who’s trying to help you. |
| Offer to drive the turtle to the rehabber and/or help facilitate capture/transport any way you can so the turtle can get help quickly. | Say you don’t want to drive that far, refuse the offer of meeting in the middle, then refuse the offer of the rehabber coming to pick up the turtle because you don’t want to wait that long. Also don’t let the rehabber look up to see if there’s another one closer to you who can get there sooner and get back to you, then do whatever you want. |
| Let the rehabber determine if any other authorities/experts should be involved (veterinarian, animal control, police, etc.). | Decide that the random backyard zoo you found online is a better place for the injured turtle than a licensed rehabber who has appropriate training and supplies to actually help the turtle, simply because it’s closer to you. |
| Follow up with the finder in a few days for status updates. | Never call the rehabber back and don’t pick up when they call you. |
| Send a thank you note to the rehabber and a small donation if you can afford it. | Make the rehabber you called track down the zoo you dumped the turtle at, find another rehabber who lives near the zoo who can take it, and then coordinate logistics to get the turtle help in a timely fashion (when it would have taken less time and gotten the turtle help sooner if you had just waited for the rehabber to pick it up from you). |
If you guessed that Finder 1 did what they were supposed to do and that Finder 2 got just about everything wrong, then you guessed correctly. I don’t have any gold stars to give out, so here’s a picture of one of my baby patients basking in artificial sunlight until it gets warm enough to release him.
Now, perhaps I am judging too harshly and the second finder was in a panic and not thinking straight, but that’s also why I try to provide calm, clear instructions on the phone that are easy to follow. If you find yourself in the position of a finder, please be like Finder 1 and remain calm, cool, and collected as much as possible. Panicking and freaking out will not get the turtle help any faster. Waiting five minutes for a call-back or for further instructions can shave hours off a turtle’s wait time for treatment, giving it a much better chance of survival.
Turtle Haven 