Potholes, racing cars, and reptiles, all things you should be watching out for on the road in the spring.

Environmental stewards are warning about critters as a hazard when you’re driving around this time of year.

“I have to imagine they have been here long before we have been here,” said Matthew Dionne, regional manager of Best Cleaners in Middletown.

His business is subject to an annual march a Middletown turtle must make. Adults crossing from Pameacha Pond on South Main Street across to a marshy area behind the Best Cleaners business.

“It was kind of a passed along story of how the turtles show up every year. In the spring,” said Dionne.

He has been following the turtle’s journey about 6 or 7 years, since he started in this office.

“The adults will come back to the pond in the marsh… midsummer, the babies make the trek back,” he explained from the back of the store.

The turtles are choosing to nest in a marsh a couple hundred feet from the water. Once the eggs hatch, the babies will beeline for the pond. The issue: the building in the way, and a busy street.

“We regularly see them marching on through, and they don’t stop for anyone,” said Dionne.

Best Cleaners will leave the doors open all summer long for air flow, and some of the turtles will choose the most direct route, which is through the building.

When you’re as tiny as they are, a helping hand will go a long way.

“The summertime is always when you have to keep an eye out, you gotta look down, you gotta look where you are walking,” Dionne said.

He and the team offer a lift when they come across a turtle. A faster ride, and safe passage across South Main.

“We do what we can, and whatever we can to help out, it makes the workday fun and interesting,” he said.

That helping hand got the green light from experts.

“It’s really important to preserve the population of our adult turtles,” said Sarah Lawson, a biological science and environmental science professor with Quinnipiac University.

She said you can expect turtles, along with a lot of other wildlife, to be on the move this time of year.

She added, it’s okay to help, offering a nudge or a lift, but keep the turtle moving in the same direction it was headed.

She also made clear; your safety should always come first.

“I think our safety is number one of importance, if you are crossing a busy road, be aware of traffic, put your hazards on,” Lawson said.

Even just slowing down to protect the turtles can go a long way. She noted turtles are “ecosystem engineers” and play a vital role in ponds and lakes around Connecticut.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental protection agreed as well. If there is a real danger, you can enlist the help of an animal control office or police department, especially in the case of a snapping turtle crossing the roadway.

The idea of helping turtles is a good one according to Jenny Dickson with DEEP, especially the females who are crossing roads to lay eggs.

She explained road mortality typically impacts females the most, because they are crossing roads more often. It takes females years to get to a reproducing age, so if a female turtle is killed on the road, it could impact population for a long time.

Dickson also pointed out, springtime is when a lot of young wildlife is on the move, so she is encouraging drivers to slow down, and pay extra attention to prevent animal strikes.

Back at Best, over the years, Dionne said they have helped tons of turtles cross the road, never asking why.

“Like they say, help your neighbors, and the turtles are our neighbors, that’s what we are here,” he said.

They just consider it the right thing to do because the turtles were here first.

“If we can take a couple minutes to make sure they are here long after we are gone, that’s kind of our obligation, it’s kind of what we do,” he said.

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