Crafts by the Sea

06/17/2026

As you’re driving this season, please slow down and watch for wildlife crossing our roads.

To an animal, a road is not a destination—it’s an obstacle standing between food, water, shelter, mates, and the habitat they need to survive. Every year, countless turtles, frogs, snakes, birds, mammals, and insects are killed by vehicles simply because they are trying to reach the resources they depend on.

A little patience and compassion can make a big difference. Slowing down, staying alert, and giving wildlife a chance to cross safely helps protect the creatures that share our world.

We often talk about creating habitat for wildlife. Equally important is respecting their need to move through the landscape. The next time you see an animal near the road, remember that its life matters too.

06/10/2026

05/25/2026

THE TURTLE YOU CARRIED BACK TO THE POND JUST CROSSED THE ROAD AGAIN

You saw her in the middle of the road — a painted turtle, moving slowly, one deliberate step at a time. You pulled over, scooped her up, and carried her back to the pond she obviously came from. You drove away feeling good. She turned around and walked right back into traffic.

She was not lost. She was not confused. She was heading to her nesting site — a sunny patch of soft soil she may have used for years, possibly decades. Turtles know exactly where they are going. When you moved her backwards, you did not save her. You doubled the number of times she has to cross.

In May and June, the majority of turtles on roads are females looking for a place to lay eggs. They may be heading away from water — this is intentional. Nesting sites are on land, sometimes hundreds of yards from the nearest pond. A turtle heading away from a creek is not a turtle in trouble. It is a turtle on a mission.

The rule is simple and it comes from every wildlife agency in the country: always move a turtle in the direction it was already heading. Even if that direction seems wrong to you. Even if it leads away from every body of water in sight. The turtle knows. You do not.

Pick her up gently with both hands on either side of the shell, behind the front legs. Keep her low to the ground. Move her to the far side of the road in the direction she was traveling. Set her down and walk away. For snapping turtles, grip the rear of the shell only or slide a car mat underneath — their necks are long enough to reach your hands at the sides.

She has been making this crossing since before the road was built. Move her forward, not back.

05/25/2026

You cut it down because it looked dead.

And maybe it was leaning. Maybe the limbs worried you during storms. Maybe it stood too close to the driveway or the shed.

That concern was real.

But before the chainsaw arrived, that dead tree was the busiest wildlife structure in your yard 🌿

The woodpecker drilled nesting cavities into softened wood.
When she moved on, other animals moved in.

A screech owl took the upper hollow.
Flying squirrels claimed the cavity beside it.
A chickadee family raised nestlings in the smaller hole facing morning sun.

Under the bark, nuthatches spiraled downward hunting beetle larvae.
Brown creepers spiraled upward across the very same trunk — each species feeding differently, cleaning insects from opposite directions.

Loose bark sheltered bats.

Not one or two.

An entire maternity colony of big brown bats tucked safely between bark and wood, each bat eating up to 1,000 mosquitoes a night.

That dead tree housed more life than the healthy ornamental trees surrounding it combined.

It was:
• an apartment building
• a nursery
• a hunting ground
• a winter shelter
• a cafeteria
• a nursery log for future forest soil

And when it disappeared, every creature using it had to search for another place to survive.

Some found one.

Some didn’t.

🌳 A standing dead tree safely positioned away from homes or walkways is one of the most valuable wildlife habitats you can leave behind.

Sometimes the most important tree in the yard is the one that stopped growing years ago.

04/23/2026

Happy 🌎 day!