Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery

Author:Sy Montgomery [Montgomery, Sy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780358458180
Google: EHiUzwEACAAJ
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: 2023-09-18T22:00:00+00:00

9.

Waiting

Fire Chief

“He’s so handsome!” exclaims Jeanne, bringing her hands to her chest as if to contain her throbbing heart. On a cool day in September, she’s come along to TRL and is meeting Fire Chief for the first time.

Matt and I had already shown her and Emily dozens of photos and videos of Fire Chief, which are filling up our cell phones and increasingly dominating our social media accounts. We take the videos to compare his progress walking as he continues his physical therapy. But Matt and I both find ourselves watching them on days we can’t come in, just because we miss him.

Now that Jeanne sees the great snapper in person, she’s even more impressed. His size is more massive, his head more mighty, his neck more majestic, his gaze more mesmerizing than any of our images could capture. And though it’s cold enough that we humans have donned wool sweaters for our therapy session today in the Turtle Garden, Fire Chief’s shell is still warm from his 78-degree tank, and he’s remarkably active.

He takes off from the spot where I place him by Mount Olympus, and heads to the fence. He turns left, walks through a pile of fallen leaves, and marches determinedly up a gentle slope. He U-turns halfway up, then heads back downhill. He hugs the fence line that runs nearest the wetland. He often stops to open and close his beak, drinking in the tastes and scents of the water, the plants, the fish, and the other turtles living there.

Snowball and Special have joined Fire Chief outside today. Other than defensively lifting her back end high, displaying the sharp scutes at the rear of her shell, Special is largely immobile. But Snowball is active. At the opposite end of the pen from Fire Chief, she crosses through her favorite tunnel. Her head tilt is almost gone now, and she moves with awareness and purpose.

Now Fire Chief makes a turn and corners the fence, marching toward Snowball’s tunnel. Head out, neck stretched long, he advances toward the much smaller female. They are on a collision course.

The two snappers are four inches apart, and I’m afraid he’s going to stomp on her. But she’s not: She boldly takes a step toward him. The two turtles pause, and Fire Chief opens his mouth once, twice, thrice.

“He’s chemming messages to her,” explains Natasha. “He’s chemically receiving and probably transmitting information.”

Snapping turtles may mate from May to September; the season is flexible, as females are capable of storing sperm, in some cases for years. Is this a sign of romantic interest?

Jeanne does the voice-over for Fire Chief to Snowball: “Do you want to have my babies?”

I burst out spontaneously, “Hey, I’d lay those eggs!” and we laugh.

A little while back, a girlfriend my age was gushing over a handsome Olympic swimmer she secretly fancied. “But he’s half my age. And he’s married,” she admitted.

“Well, I’ve got a crush going on, too,” I countered. “He’s strong, he’s gorgeous, he’s age appropriate—and he’s single.

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