College Student's Turtle Project Takes Dark Twist:

[JoeyT]

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- 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.

More at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RUNNING_OVER_TURTLES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-27-15-04-19

I can't even imagine what kind of petty person would want to run over a turtle. I usually stop and move them across the road. Maybe one way cash strapped counties could make some money would be to put a rubber replica of an endangered tortoise or turtle in the center line and fine the bejeezus out of anyone that swerves to hit it.

[MrScorpio]

1. PEOPLE are nasty pieces of work nt

[Sekhmets Daughter]

3. Absolutely. n/t

[Nay]

16. A significant portion are indeed nasty pcs of work. It is essentially why I am a loner, and glad

of it. From an early age, I saw how people acted and was pretty horrified. I was already shy, and that sealed the deal. Certainly I have found very nice people in my travels in this life, but there are still too many sickies for me to get all gooey about the human race.

[LiberalLoner]

24. +1

[a11ig8r]

32. Yes to this

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. sick and twisted folk, trying to run over a 'speedy' turtle like that

i once tried to move a wayward snapping turtle off of a fairly busy street one time. you would have thought that thing was one of the TMNT or something. I tried to come up behind it, wary of the front end sharpness and biteyness... just about the time I bent down to grasp his hind quarters the thing JUMPED and spun around toward me. i just about shat myself! i knew they were quick in the water but had not idea they were so spry on land.

i eventually shewed him the way off the road and managed to not get run over in the process...

damn, that was scary...

sP

[JoeyT]

6. I've done the same.

I eventually managed to grab him and pick him up, only to find out he weighed about half as much as I did. So I had to do a goofy lumbering run across four lanes of highway with an enraged turtle doing his level best to take off parts I was pretty attached to. (And wanted to remain that way) Chanting "Ohshitohshitohshit!" the whole way across the road.

Supposedly they can get over 200 pounds...At which point they're going to get pushed out of the road with a stick or take their chances in traffic. The one half that size was scary enough.

[mainer]

9. Never mess with a snapping turtle!

I once stopped my car to move a snapping turtle off the road. I was about to pick him up when a park ranger stopped and told me the turtle could take my finger off, because their necks are so long, they can reach around and bite as far as their own tails.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Armadillos also jump straight up

with an amazing amount of strength.

We had some in our flower bed, rooting up the plants, and I evilly talked Mr. Dixie , who had never seen one before, into "catching" one with an upside down white bucket.
So he quietly comes up on one from behind, flips the big bucket over it, it shot into the air, propelling the bucket like a space rocket, and moved FAST behind a big rock.

[Mojorabbit]

27. They are one of my specialties in wildlife rehab

You would not believe how smart they are. They are amazing animals.

[maggiesfarmer]

4. went to a football game at Clemson this year, on military appreciation day...

During half-time, one of the events was a group of Marine Corp inductees taking their Oath of Enlistment. It was one of those "repeat after me" formats where (I assume) the commander-in-chief, would say a line and the inductees would repeat:

"I <state your name>, do solemnly swear"....

when they got to the line:

"and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me" a vocal segment of the South Carolinian crowd started booing. Booing the Marine Corp recruits taking their oath.

Ok, so we now have two data points suggesting a large redneck population in South Carolina. I'd like to see the turtle experiment repeated around the nation.



In fairness, the Clemson University president scolded their fans the following Monday.

[Mariana]

5. Teabaggers are everywhere and they suck no matter where they are.

However, it can't be denied that they are more concentrated in some places than in others.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Not just turtles...

anything on the road, even the shoulder.
lost 1 cat and one dog that way, it was obvious that they had been hit deliberately.

[mainer]

8. I wish there'd been a camera recording everything

so someone could post the license plates on Youtube. Just so the assholes are shamed.

[abelenkpe]

14. Would have improved the study. nt

[Coyote_Tan]

11. Some of those suckers are suicidal...

We stopped and saved no less than 4 on one hour long drive to the lake summer before last.

[Glassunion]

12. Fuck turtles!!!

Apparently you have never been at the mercy of incredibly slow roving gangs of turtles have you?
You've probably never been robbed at gunpoint by a turtle have you?
You've probably never had a turtle spend a week spray painting their initials on your house have you?

I'm the victim here!

Signed,
- Shredder

[abelenkpe]

13. I once saw a squirrel with a hurt leg limping across the road.

I pulled over, got out and was walking over to help him when a car came and swerved to hit the squirrel. I heard the driver and guy in the passenger seat laughing hysterically as they zipped by. Made me sick and sad and embarrassed to be a member of the human race. Sometimes people just suck.

[DirkGently]

15. Knew a guy who took revenge on an animal hit & run

My first summer job, right after graduating high school -- landscaping. They partnered me with a youngish guy, maybe 6' 4" still in extremely good shape, ex college baseball player, bit of a pothead. He asked to have the new kid ride with him because I didn't smoke, which offended him, although hitting a cola-can pipe in the truck apparently didn't. Handsome guy, kept showing me pictures of his wife, who was apparently some kind of model.

Just painting a picture here.

So one day Mr. Baseball finishes his post-lunch toke and tells me how he hates people being mean to animals. I'm nodding, sure, what kind of jerk would be cruel to animals? Then he tells me about the time he saw someone on the road in front of him swerve deliberately to run over an animal. I'm almost certain he said it was a turtle.

He followed the guy home to his driveway, confronted him about his turtle-cide, and beat the living shit out of him.

Not necessarily endorsing this kind of thing, and I believe I did switch trucks sometime thereafter -- new partner was a Vietnam vet who said he had been special forces and could "kill people with his thumbs" or something like that.

But overall, I like the image of this giant, glassy eyed man following some turtle-killing dick home and knocking him senseless.

[jpak]

17. It's Clemson - what do you expect?

[frylock]

18. should have loaded the turtle with spikes or something

[KittyWampus]

34. Wish I'd thought of that. Black humor.

[1620rock]

19. Now there's an idea worth trying.

[Scuba]

20. The more people I meet, the more I like turtles ...

[a la izquierda]

21. The more I learn about humanity...

the more I love animals.
However, one day I was driving down the road and a turtle was in the middle, slowly trying to make his way across. I pulled over to try to capture the little guy, and two biker dudes on Harleys who were a ways behind me, saw what I was doing, pulled their bikes to the side, and stopped traffic for me.

[grantcart]

22. It was about 1988 after an unusually heavy rain and widespread flooding.

I was returning to my home on the outskirts of Bangkok around 1 in the morning.

I saw a large dark figure on the side of the road.

I parked my car on one lane and stopped the traffic coming the other way. There were about 12 of us who ended up standing in the light rain watching together.

We watched as the huge turtle made his way from one side of the road to the other, I am guessing he weighed 70 pounds.

We all admired it. One fellow estimated that he had to be 60 years old.

We supposed that it was domesticated and lived in a pen but was washed over the wall of the enclosure when the area was flooded.

It was a peaceful moment and everyone who stopped shared in the beauty of the moment.

Its moments like those that make me miss Thailand so much.

If it had happened here so that people would have to wait 15 minutes for an elderly turtle I would expect anger and confrontation.

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. +1

[graywarrior]

23. Bastards

[ThoughtCriminal]

25. I recall a similar study many years ago

Sorry - way too long ago to have any citations, location or details - or any proof that it existed at all.

They place fake rubber snakes in the road. Many drivers swerved to hit the snake.

They placed fake turtles in the road. Most drivers swerved to avoid hitting the turtle.

Different time. Maybe different geography.

I suggest a new study - rubber turtles with steel nails embedded.

[alphafemale]

26. I swerved so hard to miss a snake once I broke a tie rod.

flat country road. I'm pretty hard wired to not swerve for an animal otherwise though.

[KittyWampus]

35. A Buddhist teacher here died swerving to avoid a deer. Seems maybe 2 types of people

those who stop and cross turtles and those who swerve to hit them.

[savebigbird]

28. I brake for EVERYTHING!

...which is a good reason not to tailgate behind me. Seriously, though, this OP makes me very sad.

[MadHound]

29. It's not just turtles,

But cats and dogs as well. Hell, I even know a young man who took his lovely '69 Chevy SS and ran it into a herd of three deer on a road in backwoods Missouri. Drove back to my business to show them off. Of course he didn't seem to get that repairs to his car would cost him more than the "savings" he had just made on "free meat".

Humans can be nasty, cruel, and just plain stupid, all too frequently.

[Quantess]

30. Sad.

This is a very depressing indication for our human species.

[treestar]

31. I've slowed to avoid squirrels

They are my most frequent road-crossers.

Almost ran into a deer one night. They need to move the crossings.

The majority did not try to hit the turtle, though. And many might swerve to avoid it.

[Poll_Blind]

33. Anybody who does that. There's something wrong with 'em, upstairs. nt

PB

[TuxedoKat]

36. That's horrible

I stop my car and rescue them from the road. I've taken two injured turtles to wild-life rehabilitators.

[adirondacker]

37. He ought to try it with 3" spikes protruding out of the shell.

He could open a tire repair shop in close vicinity and pay for his education. Might as well capitalize on the stupidity of the populous. It is the American way.