Turtles Shut Down NYC Runway

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 9, 2009 6:18 AM CDT
Turtles Shut Down NYC Runway
Wildlife officials suspect the turtles who wandered onto a runway at JFK airport were seeking mates.   (Shutter Stock)

Mating season came to a speedy end for some turtles who strayed onto a runway at New York's JFK airport yesterday, the New York Post reports. After a pilot told air control he had  run over some turtles on his way to take-off, wildlife workers shut down the runway for 35 minutes and moved the remaining 78 diamondback turtles back to the wild. The resulting delays slowed air traffic to a crawl for 90 minutes.
(More turtle stories.)

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