Distinctly Montana Magazine

83 w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m think about something dumb you did in the past. Oh yes, and you'll need some milk from the store too. The song changes on the radio. You don't like this one that much. Let's change it. You reach for the 'next' button. Ah, that's better. You like this one. In the backseat, one of the kids asks for a bottle of water. Eyes on the road, you carefully retrieve one and hand it back to them. Then you see a small object about fifty feet in front of you. It takes a moment to register that it is a turtle. You have a couple of seconds remaining to react. You're not panicking because this isn't a fatal situation, not for you. You'd pre- fer not to hit the turtle, certainly. You're no monster, not like Steinbeck's truck driver. But at the moment there's no room in the other lane, so a little swerve won't be possible. US Highway 93 is a very busy and narrow road. The Amer- ican Legion fatality markers on the road can attest to its danger. For a moment you consider stopping to help the turtle across the highway, but there's too much traffic be- hind you and you don't want to risk your children. Plus, you are only experiencing the deeply ingrained hu- man instinct to master your environment, to build and to travel, and to explore. It is the same instinct, if in minia- ture, that drove Polynesian explorers to set out on rickety boats and sail wind-tossed seas in search of more. The same instinct, if you think about it, that sustained Lewis and Clark's fantastic, impossible journey across a conti- nent that, for all they knew, contained monsters and mur- derers. Granted, it's easier to drive than it is to portage, or to row, but can you be blamed for having a bit of a road trip? After all, it's only natural. And you work so hard, and there's so little time. As you bear down on the turtle, there's just so little time. IV. A US Department of Transportation study undertaken in 2002 - 2004 indicates that roughly 350 or so turtles are struck on Highway 93 every year. Losing 350 elk is a trav- esty, and 350 grizzlies would be an apocalypse. But there is a school of pragmatic accounting, shared by most of us, that feels as if 350 turtles is very sad, but a lot less trou- bling. Make no mistake. The Western Painted Turtle is not en- dangered. In fact, they roam over much of the Rocky Mountain West. Their value, therefore, does not lie in their being particularly rare, or exciting, or because they are the kings of the jungle. 2026 o f BEST M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F Raised. Right. Here. Ranch to Table, Since 1926. We are a fourth-generation family cattle ranch near Belt, Montana, selling all-natural, grass-fed/ sprout-finished beef, pork, poultry, and tallow products free of preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics directly to consumers. 4 0 6 - 8 9 9 - 512 9 B e lt, M o n ta n a m c c a f f e r t y r a n c h .c o m

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