WORLD TURTLE DAY: One of nature’s oldest creatures gets its own day of recognition

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) — People from all over the world recognized some of nature’s oldest creatures.

Thursday, May 23, marks World Turtle Day. Turtles are some of nature’s oldest creatures and do a lot for the environment. They eat bugs and add to the biodiversity of the surrounding environment.

”Turtles are just interesting animals,” says Francis Skalicky, the Missouri Department of Conservation media specialist. “People love turtles. They don’t cause any harm at all. They deserve a lot of respect. Number one, because they’ve been around 200 million years. Any animal that can be around that long deserves a little bit of appreciation from us.”

Missouri’s most common turtles include the three-toed box turtle, the alligator snapping turtle, and the eastern snapping turtle.

Drivers may start noticing a lot of turtles on the road in the next few months. Skalicky says if you see one, safely stop and pick it up, sending it in the same direction it was going.

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