It’s worth pointing out just how rare these things are in general in a lot of the area.
I’ve only seen one once. Not long after the Pine Barrens wild fires on Long Island in 1995. We found a large terrapin in the middle of the highway. Lethargic and covered with soot, figured it had to have crawled through or out of the ash bed. We took it home gave it water, cleaned it up and cooled it off while waiting on a local turtle rescue to pick it up. Apparently it was just badly dehydrated and overheated. Then we got to ride along when they sent it out for immediate release.
That’s the only time I’ve ever even heard of anyone running into one here. Meanwhile I’ve run into multiple Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles and Leatherbacks in the wild. Generally considered much rarer turtles.
Sadly they aren’t protected most places and are only considered “near threatened”, I guess cause they’re more common in a few places. Primarily New Jersey from what I understand.
