A wildlife photographer finds a small turtle in the middle of a busy Chattahoochee River trail and gently moves it to safety, careful not to change its direction. He waits to make sure cyclists don't hit it, then guides it toward the path's edge the way it was already heading.
The other day I was out doing some wildlife photography on a great section of the Chattahoochee River. On my way back to my car, I walked up on this small turtle near the middle of what is usually a fairly busy path. As there are a lot of people who bike through here at a fast pace, I didn't think this was a great spot for this tiny turtle. I wasn't sure if they were still alive.
Are you okay? You all right?
So I nudged the shell and they retreated inside of it. After wiping the mud off my hands, I decided to wait a bit to make sure they didn't get run over. I hung out near them and photographed some birds, but of course my proximity prompted the turtle to stay hidden in their shell. They weren't going to go anywhere until I left.
This is really not a safe space for you. There's a little turtle.
But I didn't want to leave until they were safely across the path.
You're facing that way. I assume you're going that way. I'm gonna go ahead and pick you up and I'm gonna move you that way, okay?
I paid close attention to the direction that the turtle was facing in There we go. And decided to move it to the edge of the path in the direction that it appeared to be going. It's really important when you're engaging with wildlife like this that you don't set them back in their journey because that's not really helping them get out of harm's way. Moving them in the direction that they were going, if you're going to move them at all, is the way to go. With that good deed done, I was on my way back to the car and done for the day. Thank you so much for being here and watching this video. Please make sure to check out my channel and watch the other videos I have on here. I really appreciate you being here, and I'll see you next time. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.
