Kidnapped!

From a distance, it looked like a stone deposited in the middle of the road. Only when we were upon it did we realize it was a box turtle.
We pulled over, and I ran back to move it, but not before a behemoth of a vehicle came over the slight rise in the road, fortunately straddling the turtle, but leaving it rocking in its wake.
By time I reached it, the box turtle, about the size of a child’s hand, was closed up tight in its shell. Since we were on our way to the rehab center, I took it with me to make sure it hadn’t been injured.
Athe center, the turtle eventually poked its head out. It had been doing what box turtles do when they’re under stress: pulling in its head and legs so they’d be protected by its shell. The underside of a box turtle -- the plastron -- has a hinge that folds when the turtle contracts its muscles, sealing it safely into its “box.” Hence the name.
I was guilty of doing what many well-meaning people do -- kidnapping an animal from its natural habitat. But in this case, I had made a note of where we found it and what direction it was heading. After it was examined, I released it in the grass at the side of the road and it continued on the journey it had begun many hours ago, heading into a wooded area near the highway.
Turtle mortality on highways has reached such levels that some turtles may become extinct, an article in Alive magazine, published by the N.C. Zoo, reports. Every day, more habitat is lost to shopping centers, runways and housing developments. It's an unfitting end for North Carolina’s official reptile.
Despite the dangers, turtles are better off in their natural environment than they are in captivity. They don’t do well as pets. So if you see a turtle crossing the road, help it to safety if you can do so without putting yourself in danger. Place it in the direction it was walking and leave it.
But, please, don’t take it home as a pet.