Celebrating US ! . . .
- rochepeg
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Despite everything happening these days, we do live in the best place on earth! I'm grateful!
For me, Summer is the best time on our beach, because it's turtle season! Here are some fun facts about our sea turtles (probably way more than you ever wanted to know!):
Our season, on average, runs between mid-April and late October.
While there are several types of turtles, on average, a mother weighs between 250-300#
The mother turtle always returns to the beach where she was hatched. The photo below shows the mother's tracks up from the water, circling the nest, and returning to the sea.
Each nest holds about 100 eggs.
The average time of an egg in the nest is about 60 days.
Each egg is about the size of a ping pong ball and has a rubbery texture.
The eggs usually hatch at night, because nights are cooler, not because it's dark.
Our first nest this year was on April 22, so we expect the first hatching any day; it hasn't happened yet.
Each nest is caged to prevent critters (particularly armadillos) from getting to the eggs.
Our beach of about 5.5 miles now has 219 nests; we often have close to 300 nests.
I have been lax in my recommendations, but as a final note: I just finished a very good book:
Those We Thought We Knew: a novel by David Joy (2023) It begins with: "The graves took all night to dig. There were seven in all, each between five and six feet deep, dug by a dozen pairs of hands." Now, if that doesn't keep you reading, his beautiful prose will. Set in a close-knit mountain community, where everyone has known everyone for generations, they are rocked by a murder, the reason for which they struggle to understand. It's the kind of book that you will find hard to put down.
ENJOY YOUR 4TH !
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