Autos of my history:
For today:
The older I
get, the more the quietness and beauty of nature means to me. A few years ago our Blogger friend Paula,
blogged about her friend, Toby.
Toby was a turtle in her back yard, she talked to him often. Pauline also
was a poet, she called them 'silly poems.'
She gave me permission to use several in my book. The book became Toby’s
Tales. I did some research.
The baby turtle NEVER sees its mother. She lays and buries her eggs. Sixty days later they hatch, it must dig out and find its food, there is no mother to nurse.
I was fortunate to find a ¾ mile nature trail just a mile from the motorhome. The trail has only one entrance. Right is ½ mile, left is ¼ mile. I walk for an hour wearing my back pack most mornings.
A few days ago a smile crossed my face. Right in the middle
of the trail was a huge green land turtle.
It had dug
into the ground. I stopped to talk. It never retracted its head as I talked. I said, “I don’t know if you are a boy or girl, but if you are laying eggs,
this is the wrong place you are in the middle of the trail...... I walked on to that
end of the trail.
(Someone hung a little bird house out over the canal)
On my
return trip the turtle was still in the same position. I stopped petted the
shell again and talked, then said goodbye.
The next day I could tell where the turtle had been, but no turtle.
I had vowed to bring a camera but did not. Friday I walked again. I enjoy the
nature sights.
The trail
borders by a canal. I remembered to bring the camera.
(If younger, I would have jumped up and did chin-ups)
I spotted these stair step black molds.
I
walked the ½mile side first:
I became sad on the ¼ mile section. YES the turtle had been laying eggs. And it WAS the wrong place, this is what I saw:
All of
God’s creatures exist, some living off other creatures. The eggs were dug up and
eaten by another animal. I covered the hole hoping there was still an
egg to hatch. Egg laying is called a Clutch. It happens once a year. 60 days
later they hatch. I can hope at least one egg survived.
Nature
seems cruel at times.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
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6 comments:
What a wonderful trail to walk. I like going on these walks when the weather here permits.
Thank you for the photos and for sharing your walk with us, Jack.
God bless.
Like Rick used to say, "Every day is a school day." I knew none of this; and in fact, may not have recognized what I was seeing. Indeed, nature is cruel. Someday, perhaps, it will all make perfect sense.
I've heard about sea turtles having nests in the sand on a beach, but never heard of saw a turtle nest on a trail. They must be around because there are always land turtles around. Hope there was an egg left in the hole and hopefully a new turtle will have a chance to live.
I really enjoyed that.
I remember the story in your book too and I remember Paula. Miss her.
I too hope one egg did survive! What a pretty place to hike, Jack! Thanks for sharing that walk with us!
betty
A beautiful walk and informative too! I also hope this Mom's delivery was not in vain. I will hold to my optimistic side and think of a baby turtle overcoming odds and making it safety. Yes, nature is cruel and also necessary at times to keep the balance on the earth. We all could learn about balance from nature by taking walks daily like you and learning to love nature, get healthy, and have empathy when we see the results of laying our eggs in the wrong place!
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