Turtles

Turtles are a major part of our ecosystem out here. I’ve always been a big fan of turtles. Back when I lived in Chicago, I’d often walk the few blocks to Rosehill Cemetery and the pond there to see the turtles. They don’t do much, but they’re peaceful and prehistoric and it was lovely to regularly see such a display of nature in the city– along with a blue heron that frequented the large pond, which was otherwise quite funereal with its lovely weeping willows.

We have four actual ponds on the farm; two were dug for irrigation purposes, the biggest and deepest of these to irrigate Steve’s tree nursery. That is also our “swimming hole,” with a new dock so you don’t have to climb through the steep, mucky shore to get in and out. The other is where we do our ice skating in winter and sometimes take a little duck boat in the summer. It’s the most scenic of the three.

The fourth is a small pond behind our house (seen here today in photo taken from front door). It is a hundred feet or so higher than the large pond. It also has a dock, and a gorgeous large oak next to it. In years past I’ve used it to water my garden, which is to the west, until it gets overgrown with weeds midsummer. That pond is where we have the log that is usually lined with turtles, though they sometimes have to share the space with teals or ducks.

All summer long the turtles move back and forth from the upper pond to the lower pond. I have no idea why they do that, but at any time you can find them in the grass, moving rapidly and purposefully to one pond or another.

Today when Steve went out to mow the lawn, he came across two large, old turtles in the lawn. They had dug out mucky holes and were laying eggs in them. The mower, of course, startled them off the “nests” and they high-tailed it back to the pond. I don’t know if they got the eggs laid or not, or if they’ll come back. I hope so, as having lots of turtles is part of the beauty of this place.