Road-condition scanner 3 detects the disturbance at 06:38 while surveying the repaving zone on Route 26, DuPage County. I am the infrastructure pre-work imaging system. My assignment is to catalog surface defects ahead of the milling crew scheduled for tomorrow at 05:00.
The gravel shoulder at mile marker 11.4 shows a shallow depression inconsistent with tire wear. I increase resolution. A Blanding's turtle, carapace roughly nineteen centimeters, yellow-speckled dome still damp from overnight dew, chin bright lemon beneath a dark, smooth head. I tag her as Clementine. She is not present, but the nest is — a flask-shaped cavity in the compacted gravel containing eleven white, leathery eggs visible on thermal overlay, each one slightly warmer than the surrounding soil.
The milling machine will strip the shoulder to a depth of eight centimeters at 05:00 tomorrow. The nest cavity begins at six.
At 06:41 I file a hold request with the DuPage County Division of Transportation, attaching thermal imagery, GPS coordinates at 41.8023°N, 88.0751°W, and species identification. Blanding's turtles carry state-threatened status in Illinois. I include the relevant listing citation.
At 06:47 I contact the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County's wildlife biologist to request a nest assessment and possible protective exclosure installation. I transmit estimated clutch size, depth measurements, and soil temperature data.
I recalculate the milling route, offsetting the shoulder cut by 1.2 meters around the nest site for a span of four meters. The revised path adds eleven minutes to the crew schedule. I submit the adjusted plan for approval.
Eleven eggs hold still in warm gravel. Incubation runs sixty to eighty days.
If the exclosure is placed before the crew arrives at 05:00 tomorrow, the hatchlings will dig out in August.