Critter public service announcement: BEN Column, June 23

The column that devotes today's space to an important critter advisory

The column that devotes today's space to an important critter advisory

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Jaime E. Marine | South Jersey Times 

"OK, so I wasn't going to say anything, but I can't shake these feelings since it happened and I feel like it's my duty to share this story. 
"It's a long one, but please hang in there, it's very important.

"Let me start off by saying that I personally leave wherever I'm at early whenever I need to go somewhere, and I always make sure I do the speed limit so that I can avoid and help any animals that are trying to cross the road. This is even more important in the summertime.

"Friday around 6 a.m. I went down a road and all was clear. Six hours later, I went down the same road and there were three dead turtles ranging from three inches to over a foot in diameter.

"That is such a shame. Can you imagine if three turtles die every day on just one stretch of road?

"That is such a loss to our ecosystem. This can be avoided by just going a little bit slower and paying attention to the road. It's always super important to safely pull over and to help the animal cross the road.

"You can do this by firmly grasping the turtle by the middle of their shell on both sides and bringing them across the road in the way that they were headed. If you put him back where he came from he will just turn around and try to cross the road again.

"But this is not the real reason that I'm writing this post. The reason I'm writing this post is because Saturday afternoon I was headed to Port Norris to drop off a coworker. I was running a bit late but I still made sure I did the speed limit and kept an eye out for wildlife in need of assistance.

"On a straight part of the road I noticed a big, beautiful black rat snake on the shoulder that looked like she was having trouble. I pulled over and ran to where she was before she could get to the actual road. As I got there I saw that she was moving but not making any progress. As I got closer I could tell that she had been hit. And she had been hit very recently.

"As I type this I am starting to cry again.

"She had a broken back, a broken jaw, and severe road rash all up and down her body. I knew that there was nothing that could be done to save this beautiful animal. So I used a nearby stick, I picked her up and I walked her across the road to a shaded area by a field so she wouldn't be on the hot asphalt or get hit again. 
"I sat with her for a few minutes as the life was Clearly leaving her, and I told her that I was so sorry that this happened to her, that whomever was driving was too busy, lazy or didn't care enough to pay attention to try to avoid her or help her.

"As I sat with this beautiful dying animal, two people from across the street came over. They had been out doing yard work and saw what happened. Someone purposely swerved onto the shoulder to hit the snake as she was basking in the sunlight.

"Again, I'm crying pretty bad right now so bear with me.

"This wonderful creature had probably just eaten a mouse or a rat and was digesting her meal. So she was helping us by eating a possibly disease carrying rodent, and was minding her own business when someone decided it would be a good idea to kill her.

"Did they think it was a game, that it would be fun to kill a living animal? Or do they hate snakes so much that, in their ignorance they decided to kill such an important part of our ecosystem?

"At this point I was openly crying as the snake was fading away. I told her I was so sorry about the ignorance, hatred, and stupidity of people. How people think that just because they don't understand or don't like snakes that they have the right to kill them like this.

"This is why my classes are so important. We bring a snake to every single class that I do. I do this because people need to learn at a young age to respect and care about these animals. If I can change just one mind about snakes, maybe that's one snake I can save from this type of behavior in the future. Every time a parent tells their kids to stay away from the snake, that it should be dead, it just makes me want to try harder to get that child to touch and connect with that animal.

"It's so important that we don't let our own fear and ignorance bleed into our children and taint their perception of an animal. All animals deserve our respect. How many more mice will there be in that area now that the snake isn't there to eat them? I know that I personally would rather have the snake then rats and mice ruining my home.

"So pretty much my reasoning for this post is to shed a light on the plight of our local wildlife and ask you to please do your part in helping to save them. Also, please don't let your fear and hatred be pushed onto your children. Let them make up their own minds and learn about these important animals. Let them touch a snake, connect with the animal, learn to respect and care about it. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that it deserves to suffer.

"If you ever see me out and about in town with one of my snakes, please feel free to come up and ask to touch and learn about the animal. You will be surprised how lovely they are.

"Thank you for taking a moment to read."

- Tori Leibrock

Tori's Critters

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MY KIND OF TOWN: Where something must be wrong with you to intentionally run things over