RELOCATING A RED-EARED SLIDER FROM THE STREET TO OUR BACK YARD.

My sister-in-law, who was staying with us overnight with her husband, saw what I thought was a Painted Turtle in the road but thanks to Linda at Linda’s Relaxing Lair, I now know that our little turtle is a Red-eared Slider (an explanation of the difference is below this post). Thank you so much Linda, I appreciate the correct ID.  It was near the drain in front of our house, and she asked her brother to come and move it to a safer location. Where she lives, my sister-in-law is also a trained volunteer who looks after the sea turtles when they come out of the water to lay their eggs. She and other volunteers take it in turn to guard those eggs until they hatch, whereupon those baby turtles instinctively make their way down to the ocean. 

The last turtle I saw around here was in our garden a couple of years ago, I can't remember exactly. It was in our flower bed in the front of the house. 

Gregg has never picked up a turtle before. He put it in our back garden, a short journey with plenty of room for the little guy to go a safer route than the street. 

I thought it would be a good idea to look through a few websites to know how to pick them up properly if it ever happened again. 

Below there are several sites for doing just that if anyone is interested. You can cut and paste the addresses for more info:

YouTube on how to properly pick up a tortoise:

https://youtu.be/Yz37w9ZNclA?si=pwk8tbYX_sq1xUqL

Websites:

https://www.matts-turtles.org/handling-turtles.html

How to pick up a snapping turtle.

https://www.ncwildlife.gov/species/common-snapping-turtle#

and a YouTube also on snapping turtles:

https://youtube.com/shorts/oUeGpqg5ig0?si=d04ylT4IPIlrjCT2

We ourselves are learning that we are never too old to learn something new, and I also thank Linda again for her ID of our little turtle. This is one of the many reasons I enjoy blogging so much. Our community is like a family and we are always helping each other out. 

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day!

Invasive red-eared sliders are named for the streaks of red found along the sides of their heads. They also have dark-green skin with bright yellow streaks throughout. Native painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) look similar, but don’t have those same red streaks, and their shells tend to be flatter and smoother on top.

I got my information, and more, from a website called Wildlife NYC.

HAPPY SUNDAY - FOR THE LOVE OF TREES

 

I am grateful for the trees in our small garden. We have lost two in our time here. They were already on the way out when we moved in, but we were still able to keep them for several years with careful inspections from an arborist. When the branches started dying off and didn't return, and the inside it started to become hollow, we were told it would become unsafe. It was very, very tall and we certainly didn't want it to fall on our neighbor's house.  Another neighbor told us that there was one next to our favorite tree, that had actually fallen on the corner of our house a couple of years before we moved in. 

We still have plans to replace one of them where we lost our favorite. We had hoped to get one this year, but it didn't work out. Hopefully that will be next year now.

The one I am sharing today is an American Beech.

My thanks to Jim Yerman for this very touching, loving poem.

If I could choose one type of love for two people to share, that would allow them throughout their life together to be happy...to rejoice...one love above all others...then tree love would be my choice.

Tree love begins when two seeds of love are planted together...how it happens...no one really knows...but once planted side by side, like two trees, their love begins to grow.

They grow so close together their limbs are always touching and anyone who sees them understands the love they share between them...as they're forever holding hands.

Individually they are independent and wonderful but together...each other they enhance...watch them in the wind...see how beautifully they dance.

Watch them weather any storm together...watch them feel each other's pain...watch them share their joy and laughter...watch them play out in the rain.

Watch if one tree teeters in the wind in a sudden summer squall...how the other tree is there to catch them...and will not let them fall.

Watch if one tree is filled with sorrow...is ever nervous or afraid...how the other tree is there with arms outstretched to offer the comfort of its shade.

Watch how there is no jealousy between them...no feelings they have to hide...if one tree is taller or more colorful than the other...there is only delight...and joy...and pride.

Watch how, no matter how old and wrinkled they become...they remain young in their hearts...and how their roots have grown so intertwined they can't be pulled apart.

The road to joy and happiness...that's an easy choice for me...yes, if I could choose one path to true love...then tree love it would be.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - SIGNS OF SPRING

 This is one of our trees in the back yard.  It is an American Elm and it is telling us Spring is here. We have been getting a lot of rain and chilly weather.  It was much warmer last year at this time, but I believe the Elm is right and the warmer weather will be here soon.

“…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”

~Vincent Willem Van Gogh~

Thanks for visiting friends, and have

A great day and week ahead.

Vincent Willem Van Gogh (30 March, 1853 - 29 July, 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, most of which are characterized by bold colors and dramatic brushstrokes that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art.

Born into an upper-middle-class family, as a young man Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, often traveling, but became depressed after he was transferred to London. He turned to religion and spent time as a missionary in southern Belgium. Later he drifted into ill-health and solitude. He was keenly aware of modernist trends in art and, while back with his parents, took up painting in 1881. His younger brother, Theo, supported him financially, and the two of them maintained a long correspondence.

You can learn more at this link.

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER...IF I BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?

 Not the first day they didn't!

FAVORITES FROM JUNE 2022

  Happy July everyone, Happy Fourth of July Weekend to those celebrating, and Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends out there!  I hope this month will be a good one for you all.

I am adding more favorites from the previous month.  I intend to do this regularly, as long as there is plenty of computer time.  I started last month at this link.  Today I am also adding a list of what and where these photos were taken.  Also another quote as you know how I enjoy those, and hoping that you will too.

"A picture is a poem without words."

~Horace~

Top left: Photo art of an eagle statue near the visitor center at Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.  I enjoyed using Paint Shop Pro for this one.

Top row middle: Tree Swallow, also at Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.

Top row right: Cat Bird in one of our trees in our back yard. 

Middle row left: Yellow Coneflower at Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.

Middle row, in the middle: Female Eastern Cardinal, also taken in one of the trees in our back yard.

Middle row right: Siberian Lily, new to our front garden and recently planted.

Bottom row left: Female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly at Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.

Bottom row middle: Red Fox surprised me on our back deck one night.

Bottom right: Black Swallowtail at Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.

Probably not the right Horace but the only Horace I found of interest was this one.  Born Quintus Horatius Flaccus (born December 8th, 65 BC), known in the English-speaking world as "Horace", was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.  He was a soldier, scriba quaestorius, poet and senator.