Right on time. As soon as the sun grows hot and the world warms up, out they come. Female turtles crawling out of wetlands, looking for a sandy place to lay their eggs. They're a familiar sight along Ontario roads in early summer, crossing the pavement on their quest or trying to bury their precious cargo in roadside gravel.

Eastern painted turtles, their smooth sleek shells beautifully edged with red and yellow markings, are the most common ones you'll find sunning on logs in shallow lakes and marshes or crossing roadways. Just about the only time our heavily armoured but less retractable snapping turtles come out of the water at all is to find a safe spot to dig a nest for their babies.

Tragically, you're just as likely to see a crushed or wounded turtle, hit by a car or truck, as you are a slow-moving mother far from the safety of the swamp. That's why Turtle Crossing signs are such a great idea, alerting motorists to slow down and look out for them. If you know of a stretch of road where turtles are at risk, contact Turtle SHELL Tortue (www.turtleshelltortue.org), a charitable organization dedicated to turtles and ask about putting up a sign.

What's the best thing to do if you see a turtle crossing a road? If you can do so safely, pull over to the shoulder and gently carry the animal across the asphalt in the direction it was heading. Note that snapping turtles can bite if they feel threatened, so handle with care from the rear, with a hand on each side of their plastron, or steer clear.

If you find an injured turtle, put it in a clean container and place a damp piece of cloth over its head to calm it. Then take it to a wildlife rehab centre that cares for injured reptiles, such as Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre in Peterborough (www.kawarthaturtle.org) or the Toronto Wildlife Centre (www.torontowildlifecentre.com). The latter nursed 11 painted turtles, 50 snappers, one eastern box and two map turtles last summer.

And take part in the Ontario Turtle Tally! Reporting all your turtle sightings will help conservationists learn more about population size and distribution of our native turtles. Contact www.torontozoo.com to enter your data online.

The reason we see a lot more turtles in rural areas than in urban is that we've already run over most of them in town. Of Ontario's eight species, six are endangered, five in large part due to road fatalities. So few babies survive that the loss of a single mother makes a dent in the population.

Why not phone your local councillors and ask that roads near waterways be built with turtle crossing culverts? Or send a donation to any of the turtle-protection groups above.

Nature queries: 905-725-2116 or mcarney@interlinks.net.