32 Little Green Babies
I recently became an auntie; to 32 youngsters. 32 little greenish brown youngsters to be exact.
My sister Sarah was leveling her yard in Ohio and accidentally hit a nest of turtle eggs. Having dogs who dig around her yard and also bad feelings about hitting the nest in the first place Sarah did some research online about turtle babies and decided to move them to a safer place until they hatched.
Sarah watched over them and waited and finally 100% success. She had some concerns about saving them because technically in nature not all the tiny babies will live (it’s hard to dig out of the dirt because the mama turtle lays the eggs very deep). But with the dogs running around the yard and the fact that she upset their natural habitat I think she made a good decision.
She’s letting me post a few pictures here and these babies are adorable. This first picture is right after some of them had hatched.
She turned them loose into their habitat after all of them hatched (so, luckily I don’t have to buy 32 birthday gifts each year). Here’s a close up of one of the little guys in the wild; well, muddy swamp.
This little one looks huge in the picture but my sister said they were only the size of ping pong balls. That is tiny. Isn’t he sweet. To give you some perspective I found a picture of someone holding some little ones in their hand at, strangely, a weird gadget-minded blog I like called Boing Boing.
Now, if you happen to come across an animal in nature that you think needs saving it is always best to do some research first. My sister read up on turtles and noted that she wouldn’t upset the natural order too much or harm them by moving them to a safer hatching ground. But you don’t want to mess with nature if you can help it.
If your kids want to learn more about these little shell dwellers take a look at Kids Konnect’s turtle pages. Additionally, my super cool sister has a lot more neat pictures at her blog; including the nest, the littles hatching, and swimming free.
Have you ever saved an animal in the wild (or your own backyard)?
Tags: boing_boing, dogs_running, kids_konnect, little_shell, muddy_swamp, ping_pong_balls, sister_sarah, tiny_babies, tree hugging family, turtles, turtle_eggs, youngstersRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Animals
17 opinions for 32 Little Green Babies
Crabby McSlacker
Sep 1, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Wow, great turtle pictures and what a cute story! So glad she was able to save them.
So, um, was that a relatively quick process, from egg to releasable turtle? Or did she have turtle babies all over the place for weeks?
Good for her for helping those critters out. They sure are cute.
Jennifer
Sep 1, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Crabby, I thought you said “reusable” turtles! I read it like three times before realizing that I’m blind. I was thinking now what is she going to reuse turtles for.
Anyhow, I think they hatched pretty quick — she must have found them late. I guess mama turtles just lay eggs and take off so Sarah was an unofficial mama.
Hil
Sep 1, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Oh, the kids loved this story, Jennifer. The baby turtles are so sweet.
We found a turtle in the road a few years ago. The kids caught it, named it Steve, and set it free at a park with a pond. Thankfully it wasn’t a snapper. :p
Mary Emma Allen
Sep 1, 2007 at 1:52 pm
This was so interesting, Jennifer. And the pictures lovely.
We rescued baby ducklings when my daughter was growing up. I was sitting at the typewriter (before computers!) and had the window open. Soon I heard the higher pitched quacking made by babies. But there couldn’t possibly be any nearby, could there? The river was quite a distance beyond the highway that ran in front of our house.
The quacking continued. So I went to the door and looked out from the stoop. There were several baby ducklings, only a couple days old, making their way around the yard and calling for Momma. I didn’t see Momma anywhere and knew there were predators in the vicinity (Our landlord had both cats and a dog that might take a liking to ducklings.)
I called to my daughter, we scooped up the babies, looked all around the yard and along the road for Momma, but she wasn’t in sight. (We later surmised she may have gotten hit by a car or captured by an animal since she never appeared searching for her babies.)
We raised them in the house, where they truly enjoyed the bathtub. (I was somewhat familiar with ducks and ducklings, having raised them on the farm where I grew up.) When they were large enough to survive on their own, we took them to a lake where many ducks of their type lived. (We’d checked with the Wildlife Dept.) As we put them into the water, we were pleased the other ducks accepted them…quacking loudly at first and our ducklings joined in. I still have pictures of them somewhere swimming and splashing in the bathtub.
Jennifer
Sep 1, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Steve huh Hil, good turtle name :D That is cute.
Mary, Great Story! Baby ducks are so adorable. That is so cool that you guys managed to save them and raise them in the bathtub I bet your daughter had a blast with that and telling her friends. That’s also neat to hear that they reincorporated back into nature seemingly flawlessly. If you find the pictures you should send them so I can post them with your amazing story — or you can, although the story might fit better here than at Home Biz Notes ;)
The weird thing is my sister has duck stories and a weird bird who was stalking her story at her blog too. Maybe she’s a nature (or small animal magnet).
Mary Emma Allen
Sep 1, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Hi Jennifer,
I was so delighted with your and your sister’s baby turtle story, that I mentioned it at my other blog, Quilting and Patchwork, as just a fun piece for inspiration in a busy day. Maybe quilters can come up with a turtle design for a wall hanging. Then I linked back to your story here.
Something Fun for Quilters
Sep 1, 2007 at 5:53 pm
[…] I read Jennifer’s post, 32 Little Green Babies, at Tree Hugging Family, a new b5media blog, I thought I simply must share it. Then I shared, […]
Something Fun to Brighten Alzheimer’s Patients’ & Caregivers’ Day
Sep 1, 2007 at 6:30 pm
[…] I read Jennifer’s post, 32 Little Green Babies, at Tree Hugging Family, a new b5media blog, I thought I simply must share it. Then I shared, […]
marye
Sep 1, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Fabulous! That is excellent work on her part.
I used to be the local wildlife rehab person. That means that every time someone found something they didn’t know what to do with/want to deal with they called me. Or they took it ot the vet and the vet called me..or the animal control officer knocked at my door at 2 in the morning with fox kits..you know..stuff like that.
Super new blog. I love it.
Jennifer
Sep 1, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Marye; is there something you actually haven’t done? You know I feel real lazy whenever you come around ;) Have you flown a jet? Please say no.
marye
Sep 2, 2007 at 12:37 am
No…but my son soloed his first plane at age 15 in CIvil Air PAtrol..
ummm I have never …uh…all of a sudden the veggie tales song, Pirates that DOn’t Do ANything is running through my head…
Umm..I have never been to Europe. And I haven’t been on the cover of Victorian Homes..yet.
Sarah
Sep 2, 2007 at 11:05 am
Thanks for posting my turtle story. I noticed that someone asked how long it took to hatch/release, etc. A large snapper was spotted in our yard around 6/1, so it was determined that this was the mama turtle (they usually ONLY leave their natural habitat to lay their eggs). The clutch started hatching on 8/20 and it took about a week for all 32 to hatch (so their incubation was around 80 days). I released the guys (or girls…they are all the same gender based on incubation temp) as they finished ingesting their yolk sacs…first 3, then 6, then 20!, then the final 3 which left me feeling a bit of the empty nester syndrome. It was a lot of work, but well worth the experience. Just always make sure that you do as much research as you can before taking on a rescue project.
Jennifer
Sep 2, 2007 at 11:53 am
Hey Marye; I am so happy that you aren’t a jet flying girl :) Although, now I suppose you’ll take lessons.
There you are turtle mama / sister. I can’t believe you know the word “clutch” in relationship to turtles. Also that is so weird that they’re all the same gender — very interesting and kind of strange. That’s sad about the final three leaving you; although when you say “final three” it sounds like a reality turtle TV show contest :) Did you read Mary’s duck story — too cute.
Something Fun to Brighten Your Day
Sep 2, 2007 at 5:02 pm
[…] I read Jennifer’s post, 32 Little Green Babies, at Tree Hugging Family, a new b5media blog, I thought I simply must share it. Then I shared, […]
marye
Sep 2, 2007 at 10:20 pm
So does that mean that I should not tell you that I once sky dived (dove? diven?)?
:)
Turtle Quilts Inspired by Turtle Blog
Sep 3, 2007 at 12:03 pm
[…] Jennifer, in a comment on my fun post about baby turtles, Something Fun for Quilters, mentioned that her best friend likes and collects turtles. In the post, I’d suggested the turtles might inspire quilters. So Jennifer came up with the idea of a baby blanket or quilt with turtles for her friend’s baby. […]
Jennifer
Sep 3, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Actually Marye, I knew you had sky dove, diven, jumped! I don’t know how — but it probably came up in some quirky conversation at some point.
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