BATON ROUGE - After dozens of turtles were found dead along Stanford Avenue, conservationists with BREC were quick to take action.

In May, LSU employee Libby Haydel noticed several cracked and broken shells along the side of the road as she walked around University Lake. Haydel took a cell phone video of the gruesome scene and sent it to BREC officials, who manage Milford Wampold Park. 

The turtles were hit by cars as they were looking for a dry place to lay eggs, said BREC Natural Resource Manager, Lydia Nichols-Russell. Between April and July, turtles in our region leave the water to build nests on higher ground.

After seeing the video, BREC workers took swift action to protect the turtles near the busy roadway. They erected a 400-foot-wide temporary drift fence using landscaping fabric and stakes they had immediately on hand. 

BREC plans to keep the barrier up for the remainder of turtle nesting season, which ends at the end of July.