Drivers urged to take care
Wildlife Trust reports too many traffic-related kills
Cape Coral residents and a local wildlife advocate group have growing concerns about the number of wildlife being struck by cars in the city.
There have been multiple reports of gopher tortoise being run over, as well as burrowing owls being struck by cars in the evening hours when swooping low, near preservation lots purchased by the Cape Coral Wildlife Trust, as well as in the northwest part of the city.
Residents in the area say speeding cars have disregard for the species that inhabit these preservation lots, with messy results on pavement happening too frequently.
“When working at Northeast Juanita Place (a FWC lot), several neighbors told me that motor bikes actually run through the conservation land, and they, too, are concerned about the tortoises,” said CCWT spokesperson Jana Charvat. “One neighbor said he had found two dead tortoises just recently.”
Charvat added that she also found a dead tortoise that had been run over at another FWC lot last week at 503 N.E. 1st Ave., and provided photos of the tortoise in grass with a cracked shell.
“I have had several residents in the area stop and tell me how concerned they are about speeding cars,” Charvat said. “They care about the tortoises and owls that make this area their home. We are desperately trying to save this species, as they are a keystone species that so much other wildlife rely on and they are threatened here in Florida.”
Tino Garcia lives along Northwest 6th Street, and said the roadways in his neighborhood at times resemble a high-speed rack track, a-la the Daytona 500.
“In the short period of time that I’ve been here, I’ve seen three of the tortoises get squished, and I just a few weeks ago, I saw one owl,” Garcia said. “And the owl was actually dead right on the edge of my yard.”
Garcia said he takes his dog for a morning jog nearly every day, and that he sees a lot of cars speeding in the area.
“People just zoom across,” he said. “And we have young kids on ATVs that don’t even have a license plate on it, and they just come buzzing across. We also have people that just race across interceptions trying to avoid a four-way stop sign in the area, so they take our road and come across.”
His concern spans from wildlife, to children that play in the area and also walk to school or wait for the bus. He’s also concerned about how seeing a beloved animal, such as a burrowing owl or gopher tortoise, squished on the side of the road could impact a child.
Speaking to the burrowing owl in front of his home, Garcia said, “I went with my shovel. I went and picked it up and put it, you know, it was out in the open area. Kids walk around all the time because they want to see the gopher tortoises walking around, they want to see the owls. I don’t want to see a young impressionable 4-, 5-, 6-year-old, you know, come around and see that dead squished animal, there with its guts out all this kind of stuff there in the middle of the road.”
Garcia said maybe there could be additional stop signs places in the area, or higher traffic enforcement.
“Or you know, that piece of equipment that says, ‘hey, this is your speed,’ it kind of alerts people,” Garcia added. “The citizens of Cape Coral are concerned about traffic and about people speeding and about traffic enforcement in general. Red lights seem to be a suggestion, not a rule.”
Garcia said cars speeding throughout neighborhoods should not come at the cost of the lives of animals that call Cape Coral hope.
“Cape Coral is unique that it has these species here,” he said. “You know, residents want to help be part of conservation rather than be worried about getting from point A to B faster. That’s indisputable.
“The tortoises are slow. At times, I do see concerned drivers stop. Turtles just hide in their shell, thinking they’re going to be protected, but if they’re not. And so that’s the problem.
They’re just very slow to react, they hide in their shell, and if somebody’s not minding or paying attention, or they’re driving too fast to avoid them, then there goes the animal.”
The Cape Coral Wildlife Trust has purchased nearly 100 lots to help preserve wildlife. The organization was formed to acquire land for education, research, and for the preservation of Cape Coral’s indigenous wildlife. This includes burrowing owls, gopher tortoises, and more.
For more information about the CCWT, visit capecoralwildlifetrust.org.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com