We were getting ready to go bowling when my dad yelled, “The baby turtles are hatching!” My mom and I ran upstairs to the office. There we saw an itty bitty wood turtle hatchling marching around on the dirt in my dad’s makeshift egg incubator. Eventually, six other siblings joined the oldest, which was the most successful clutch my dad ever hatched. The healthy sibling group of seven was adopted among my dad’s “turtle friends” and a couple local preserves. The goal was to raise the babies for the delicate first few years to be eventually released into the wild to help the diminishing wood turtle population recover from the effects of development in eastern Pennsylvania.
My dad was known as the “Turtle Man” because in his free time, my dad worked with others to educate and preserve habitat for reptiles and amphibians. He also dedicated hours per week caring for the over 30 turtles, tortoises, and other reptiles and amphibians residing in our home. Out of all the things my dad did as a hobby herpetologist, hatching turtle eggs was, by far, the coolest, and the most difficult.
There were plenty of things that could go wrong in the process. Even before the eggs were laid, a female could become egg-bound, which meant the eggs were unable to be released from the mother’s body. Left untreated, this condition is fatal. When egg-laying started, my dad transferred the expectant mother to a dirt-filled aquarium where she could easily lay her clutch. Sadly, many times a female turtle dropped eggs that weren’t fertilized or viable. A few times a mother stepped on her own eggs as she buried them in the dirt. Other times my dad’s the makeshift incubator didn’t keep the soil moist or warm enough so the eggs were lost. And this was in captivity; egg incubation in the wild was fraught with much more danger.
Raccoons, snakes, and other predators could make an easy meal of a nest or a few days of heavy rains could flood it. Outside temperatures might be too hot or too cold, especially in age of climate change. If the female buried her eggs too deep into the soil, the hatchlings couldn’t dig their way to the light and suffocated, but if the holes were too shallow the eggs risked exposure to the elements.
So whenever a tiny turtle head emerged above the soil, we celebrated. Plus, baby turtles are adorable!
On the rare occasion, my dad and I found a baby turtle in the wild, we marveled at its survival. They were so vulnerable as they spent their days dodging hungry herons, highways, and climate change. Hatching is a risky business. For example, when a snapping turtle lays eggs only 5% of eggs laid in the wild ever hatch and only 1% of those hatchlings make it to reproduction age according to The Masked Biologist.
Every turtle we encountered was its own miracle, defying the odds of survival. While turtles are rarely seen as emblems for heroism, perhaps they deserve more consideration. They’ve always been known for taking their time—something we could all do in a busy culture.
But what if they’re something more? What if they could encourage us to overcome the odds, which aren’t always in our favor?
Over on And Another Thing, Ruth Buchanan wrote about how an autocorrect mistake turned into an amusing writing metaphor about overcoming hurdles.
I believe turtles can inspire us beyond the writing life. They remind us that life is hard, but we can continue to overcome the obstacles that try to hold us back, break our hearts, and try our spirits.
Like a baby turtle, we break out of our eggshells and move towards the light to an uncertain future. We grow as we learn to overcome each failure and cherish each joyful moment. And if we’re lucky, we make it to maturity.
Whatever we do, we continue to overcome our life’s hurdles, or as Ruth would say, life’s turtles.
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OVERCOME!!!!!!!!
I like how you guys synchronized your posts. Well done!