In this episode, Mary Stone reflects on saving a baby snapping turtle she came upon soon after her brother Bill passed away, another a year ago, and helping a momma snapping turtle cross the road with kind passersby.
We chat about turtles that are welcome garden guests and how to attract them into your garden. Then, wrap up with how serving others, including Mother Nature, lifts our spirits.
Related Stories (and Episodes) and Helpful Links
Saving Snapping Turtles Lifts Spirits
Winter Season of Growth column and companion podcast episode:
Ep 84. Winter Season of Growth
Turtle Island column and companion podcast episode:
Ep19. Turtle Island, Ugly Slug Remedies
More about Common Snapping Turtle (from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection)
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I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
AskMaryStone.com
More about the Podcast and Column:
Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page
Ep 129. Saving Snapping Turtles Lifts Spirits
Sat, Oct 07, 2023 6:01PM • 10:49
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
turtle, garden, snapping turtle, snapping, road, live, climbed, pond, learn, walked, leave, bill, leash, slugs, imagined, water, dilemmas, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:23
Hello there, it's Mary Stone, and welcome to the screen porch. It's the evening and I'm hearing the sounds of the crickets in the trees. It was a summary feeling this fall day, rising above 80 degrees, which has been going on for the last few days. I love that about the Fall -- kind of back and forth with the weather. I've been camping out here at night enjoying the warm evenings in New Jersey. I hope you're enjoying the beautiful season of transitions wherever you are.
Mary Stone 00:55
So today, I look forward to sharing a turtle story, or two turtle stories or maybe even three or four. We'll have to see where it leads. But first thanks to those who reached back about last week's chat about the Women and Their Woods with Native Plants. It's heartwarming to know that many of us are inspired to have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with our dear Earth rather than a parasitic one where we harm it. We want to work with our Earth as we benefit from its bounty. Yes, indeed. Well, I look forward to sharing this week's story which starts like this.
Mary Stone 01:33
Hello fellow listeners and readers. Last week while walking Joelee I came upon a baby snapping turtle on the side of the road, which turned into a reflection of what had happened years ago. Not too long after my brother Bill passed away. Who has an affinity for turtles, I purposely say has rather than had because I feel his spirit is still with me. I call him my soulful twin as we were in the same grade and graduated high school together. But Bill graduated life earlier than I would have liked. It'll be 10 years ago just before Christmas. Anyway, when I came upon the baby snapping turtle, which looked very parched from the fall day. It was soon after Bill passed and I was struggling over worry for his daughter a teen at the time, and I felt helpless to help her wishing to step in where Bill left off. It was an all-consuming worry that I had for her. As they brought the tiny turtle down to the brook, the same one that I live on but further down the road, I climbed the newly installed guardrail with riprap, which was angled stone that interlocks together so that controls erosion.
Mary Stone 02:46
It was challenging to maneuver and with Miss Ellie Mae on the leash, My canine at the time. It doubled the difficulty. I let her off the leash. She ran down to the water to get a drink and a dip. As I let the turtle go, It came to life after looking so dehydrated, it just lifted my heart to see. As they turned to make the ascent, Ellie was missing, and I panicked having lost a dog years ago. I climbed the riprap using my hands to stable the frantic pace and maneuvered over the rail. She was there with her shit-ass grin, safe from the cars at speed by on the country roads. I was so grateful when I saw her.
Mary Stone 03:27
I must have cut my finger on the sharp rail, or the rocks and fingers always seemed to bleed far more than the cut warrants. So, I wrapped the wound with my overshirt, and I imagined all the cuts Bill experienced while raising his kids. You can't keep a leash on them forever, I hear him say. As parents, you hope you teach them the right things to do. I thought about my brother's Lesson of the Leaf-- to love and let go like a leaf in the water. We have no control over the currents. Let go of your worry for my daughter and send healing love and light were the words that I imagined him saying to me.
Mary Stone 04:08
So this time when I came upon the baby snapping turtle, and again that was last week. I walked a quarter of a mile with this quarter-sized little guy to a feeder stream, much less steep. I climbed over the ragweed and mugwort inundating our world, choking out the native asters, although I saw a few blooms peeking through, and I released him safely into a spot next to the water. While I walked the little guy, he tucked inside his shell in fear. Halfway to the feeder stream, he grew impatient and struggled to get out of my two-finger grip. And I said to him, I'm trying to help you be patient little guy or girl. A lesson in patience we all can learn from nature.
Mary Stone 04:50
So just yesterday, I came upon another snapping turtle, but this was a very large one crossing the road. Not the same fellow one pond down that I came upon last October. We spoke about that encounter in Episode 84, Winter Season of Growth, when somebody had stopped and had a pickup truck and a piece of wood to help flip the turtle back into the pond. That was a magical moment.
Mary Stone 05:19
So, this time I could not imagine the platter-size guy being flattened either. And I wear a reflector vest when I walk on the roads because, again, people tend to speed on the country roads, and so I want to be seen. A few cars carefully drove by as I was showing them the turtle was in the road, and I watched this little guy slumber so slowly, so slowly. I'm like, this is not going to be a good thing.
Mary Stone 05:44
But Diane McGreen stopped to help. And soon after, a CDL truck pulled over, and she knew who he was. It was Caesar who delivered packages to her. He takes up the snow removal brush scraper thingy and tries to push the turtle to the pond side of the road. While he hissed and spit-- the turtle that not Caesar. He then flips the turtle carefully on its back. He runs to his truck to get a utility glove, puts it in the turtle’s mouth, and then carries him safely to the other side. What a hero. “Somehow, I knew what to do,” he said, “thinking it’s the safest way of moving the turtle to the other side,” I asked him where he was from. He's originally from Puerto Rico, but now he lives in Passaic, and he works in our area delivering packages. “I always try to save critters when I see them crossing the road,” he said. What a delightful soul. Thank you, Caesar and Diane, for taking the time to help me help the turtle. So, kind of you.
Mary Stone 06:45
The Connecticut Department of Energy Environmental Protection writes that snapping turtles can live up to 40 years or more and rarely leave their aquatic habitat except during the breeding season or to reach new places to live. If there's overcrowding, pollution, or habitat destruction. They recommend not handling snapping turtles, and I have to say I recommend the same thing. But Caesar had a strategy that worked really well, and I'm so grateful. Snapping turtles have a reputation for decimating game fish and waterfowl populations. But scientific research indicates that that's rarely the case. In natural situations, snapping turtles have no significant impact on fish are waterfowl populations. And again, that was the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Mary Stone 07:31
It was fascinating to learn that once snapping turtles lay their eggs, they do not return to the nest, which is what I thought was going on. Maybe he or she was checking on those little babies I saw the week before, but they just leave their eggs and they don't return to the area until the next time they lay them so it felt good to help that little baby turtle.
Mary Stone 07:52
Turtles are welcome garden guests- Box turtles that is are the most common here. They eat berries, moss, fungi, and insects, including slugs, one of their favorites. Toads and frogs are welcome to each eating up to 10,000 slugs a season and other pests, including grubs. To attract welcome guests into your garden, provide plenty of leaf litter for moist hiding spots. And this is a pet peeve of mine because people clean up their gardens in the fall. You should really leave the debris because it provides a habitat for our garden guests' nesting spots for next year's new babies. And if there isn't a pond or bog nearby, put a dish of water out in your garden. The most critical thing is to avoid synthetic herbicides and insecticides as they are particularly devastated by them. With organic practices, healthy turtles, frogs, and toads will be garden helpers, keeping pests under control. We sure could use more happy endings. Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone.com. By the way, in Episode 19, we have a feature about turtles to Turtle Island Ugly Slug remedies. You may enjoy that. I'll put a link in the show notes.
Mary Stone 09:09
You know when you go through challenging times in your life. It's important to think that after every storm, the sun will shine. Light comes after darkness. It's the cycle of life and time. We are here to be of service to each other, to nature, and to our land, with gratitude for the gifts that they give us. And you can't rush things—everything in its due time. One could say we rushed the turtle to save him or her from being squished on the road. I like to think it was part of the plan that we came upon the situation just in time to help that big turtle. I bet you would have done the same if it were you.
Mary Stone 09:48
Thanks so much for coming by always enjoy our time together, and I hope you have as well and if so, I would so appreciate it if you would share the podcast with a friend or two so that more can join us in learning and growing in the garden of life. I just love hearing from you, so reach out to me. I would love to hear your nature stories, saving critter stories, or anything you would like to share; please email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com Thanks so much. See you next time on the screen porch.
Mary Stone 10:19
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.
