Kane County residents raise money to protect neighborhood turtles

Families in the Sunset Views community in Lily Lake have been sharing the road with turtles for over a decade, and helping them cross has become a neighborhood tradition that residents are trying to protect.

Sunset Views residents Cindy Braden and Abby Drommerhausen are tired of seeing turtles get run over by cars in their neighborhood. They are taking matters into their own hands by raising money to install turtle crossing signs.

Turtles have inhabited the retention ponds on either side of East Sunset Views Drive, between Twilight and Autumn lanes, and cross the road often to get from one pond to the other.

As the community has grown in recent years, crossing the road has become more dangerous for the turtles due to increased traffic, and community members are now raising money to install signs to make motorists aware of the turtles.

“We just want to help the little guys because they can’t help themselves,” Drommerhausen said. “It’s so sad, it just breaks our hearts (seeing them get run over).”

Braden has lived in Sunset Views for 14 years and said while she grew up in Kane County around plenty of wildlife, she had never seen so many turtles until she moved to the neighborhood. She said while other animals are more or less able to fend for themselves, the turtles seem to be the most vulnerable to traffic.

“There’s a ton of us in the neighborhood who are always on ‘turtle watch’ and helping them cross,” Braden said. “All the kids in the neighborhood help with it.”

As baby turtles began crossing the road this spring, Braden contacted the homeowners association and the village to see what could be done to increase awareness.

She said the village was very helpful in coordinating with the Illinois Department of Transportation and drawing up plans for the turtle crossing signs, but the $514 it would cost to install the signs was not in the budget.

Braden then connected with her neighbors, who were very supportive of the idea, and Drommerhausen created a GoFundMe for the signs, which has raised $410 so far. The goal is to raise $550, which would cover the cost of the signs, installation and fees to the fundraising site.

Drommerhausen has lived in Sunset Views for over a decade and said the wildlife in their community is important to many families in the neighborhood, and the turtles especially have brought the community together.

“Our kids have grown up with a different sense of valuing the life of animals than their friends who grew up in downtown St. Charles because they don’t see this much wildlife,” Drommerhausen said. “It really means a lot to us. We feel like they’re part of our community.”

Any additional funds raised over the cost of the signs will be donated to the Kane Forest Preserve Foundation’s Adopt a Turtle Program.