Watching A Turtle Prepare To Lay Eggs

Trachemys scripta
A yellow-bellied slider

The other day I wrote about our encounter around midnight with IT, thinking that what snarled at us sounded like a big wild cat.  I had previously seen a mountain lion about 80 miles downriver of here, back in June 2010. That one I saw for myself, though getting a picture of it was impossible. 


"Hello mountain lion, could you please stand still, wait while I get my camera, turn it on, get it in focus and snap your picture?"


So the next day, puppy dog Harley and I set out hiking, to look for big cat paw prints. I took my camera. We looked all over the yard at the campground, then we headed for the clearing where we often see deer. They too scamper off before I can catch their picture, but I keep trying. So far I have lots of pictures of the clearing, minus the white tailed deer. 


How I wish I had a motion activated solar powered trail cam to leave there. 


In the clearing, I was photographing suspicious tracks. After looking them over on the computer, I see the three dimensional effect is greatly diminished. What I need is Plaster of Paris to make impressions of the prints.  I wandered around, then I would stand perfectly still, for a few minutes,  waiting, listening to see if anything live turned up. 


Well what do I see?  A big turtle!

Big mama turtle, in the clearing. I shortened up Harley's leash, so he couldn't race over to disturb her. From this far away, it appeared as though she was stuck in the mud. I quietly, slowly, tiptoed over to her. 

This yellow-bellied slider had a shell  about 15 inches long, rather large for her species. (I wish I had a dollar bill or a ruler with me to photograph next to her.)   After researching the internet and firing off  emails, two different sources from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, wrote me back, both confirming she is a yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta).
A big thank you goes out to both these researchers for their super prompt replies. 

These pictures were actually taken from a distance, then cropped, as I did not wish to stress the mama turtle any, while she laid out her nest and eggs. 

I am very fascinated by the intricate markings on her shell. It has a lot of dried up mud all over it.
I guess she hasn't had a proper bath lately.
Pregnant women have a hard time at everything.

It appears that by the time we stumbled upon the mama turtle, she had already laid her eggs, but was now working to cover her nest back up again. On the flip side, maybe she was just starting to dig her nest, and had not laid a thing yet. I am sorry she chose the open clearing for her eggs. I worry about the babies, when they hatch, will they instinctively know to run for cover in the woods or the lake?  I understand they incubate about 2-3 months in their nest, then are born all alone, minus their mother. Maybe she chose this sunny spot so they would be warmed by the sun when they arrived on earth. 

I decided to leave her alone to finish her business.  Later in the day, I would check back on her progress. 

See you later, mama turtle!

Later, I came back, immediately spotting her nice neat nest. If you look closely, you will see it is almost a perfect circle. She has carefully done her best to disguise the baby eggs, hidden safely beneath the ground.  The red mud is just barely visible. That was one busy lady!

When I came back the second time, on the other side of the clearing, was this green egg shell, minus the contents.  Did something hatch out of it?  After reading up on the yellow-bellied slider turtle, I found out their eggs are greenish in color.     Did something grab one of her eggs for a snack?  Or is this unrelated to the mama turtle?  When I went back the next morning, I planned to collect the shell, for better photos, to ask those nice researchers again. But the egg shell was no where to be found. 

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Whether the Weather Provides Enough Cardio Exercise

We hike to this open field in the woods almost every day. We often see a white tailed doe and her fawn here. Matter of fact, I was so excited to see them yesterday,  when I was wearing my camera around my silly neck.  I picked up the camera to turn it on (it slooooooooowly turned on) to snap a quick photo (it's so  fussy) but the deer scampered right off.  All I got was a picture of   the clearing.  (I thought I heard deer-like giggling and snickering too!)
*SIGH*

I'm getting plenty of cardio exercise lately with the frequent weather changes. I love the huge patio that came with the workamping spot. 


Or I thought I did. 


The dawn of a new error...


For those of you non-RV-ers; workamping, which I often spell workcamping, (I've seen it used both ways, I am unsure which is correct, maybe both are) is basically volunteering for government or bartering with a private company or individual in exchange for a camping spot. This may or may not,  include various utilities and other perks. It varies widely.  Some want slave labor, others are a bit more reasonable. Some want couples only, others will consider a single like me.  


Harley the puppy is part of the package deal. He is very enthusiastic about our current workamping, taking his job uber seriously. 


At my workamping spot, the patio is about 40 by 40 feet of concrete. My camper is parked on one side. The motorhome has a crank out awning about 9 by 15 feet. It is cantankerous because it was rebuilt from junk yard parts, after it was nearly destroyed in Lake Placid, Florida last May.  I'm saving up for a new one, I need the frame and awning, so it's not cheap.  I have $1.21 set aside so far. (These things take time, I've only been saving up for 10 months.)


To see gruesome pictures of my destroyed awning from a weather related event (before the junkyard rebuild):
http://dearmissmermaid.blogspot.com/2010/06/ooops.html


I was in lake Placid, Florida, at the time, training for a sales job, that turned out to be a royal scam. *sigh*.  Live and learn. At least they made arrangements for me to stay in the RV park at half price. I was able to extend it some, to make repairs, while my friend visited me with his hack saw. 


Over the summer and fall, while wandering around, I began visiting junk yards and scrap metal places, until I rounded up enough parts on my teeny budget, to put the awning back together. The awning material is repaired with roofing tape. Oh the things I do to live on a shoestring, until things improve...  It's rather comical at times. It's amazing what is held together with duct tape, string and bent paper clips.  Living in old boats and on far flung islands is really good training for "making do". I'm so lucky to have these skills. 


So back to the cardio exercise, I am getting so much of...


We keep having storms and high winds. So I have to break down the patio comforts. I prefer to live on the patio as much as possible, so typically I have my card table set up with a table cloth for working and dining, plus assorted outdoor folding chairs for me and company, should I be fortunate enough to have any. Then there is the wonderful patio mat (a birthday gift from 2010) that is 9x12 feet, but can blow away in these stiff winds, since I can't anchor it down with tent pegs (the concrete is too hard for that!)  


Email me, if you want to come visit or camping here.   :)


Part of my workamping assignment is answering questions from the public, keeping my campsite "approachable." Today, I've already had 4 visitors from the public, 2 rangers and 2 drive ups, with questions. Harley dog LOVES it when people come by. He tries to be very welcoming, and entertaining. 


He does make people smile and laugh, even though he's lousy at answering questions. 


So with the frequent changes in weather, I keep having to take the awning down, put the awning up. Fold the table up, put the table away, bring the table back out, put the table cloth back on, anchor that down. Ditto for chairs, some that don't do well at all in rain and winds, fold those up, put them away, get them back out, set them up. 


Throughout the day, Harley and I drag out all sorts of things with us, that have to go back in when high winds strike or rain hits. Like the laptop computer, the big coffee can we use for garbage, my coffee cup, (or iced green tea tumbler), doggy food dishes, doggy water, doggy toys,  pet parent toys, tool bag (always something to fix), BBQ utensils if we're cooking out, the crock pot (cooler to cook outside than inside), the cell phone,  carpet runners for the picnic bench, tablecloth for the jumbo picnic table, Harley's tether so he can roam around without running off (he will run off too!), various medical supplies and so on. Then when bad weather hits, I have to lug it all up the steps, back into the motorhome, then start putting things away in the so-called basement which is always crowded because it is tiny. 


A few weeks ago, I think I wrote about the storm that hit in the middle of the night, sending my table and chairs scurrying for the woods. Even my rug, which was anchored down with big rocks, took flight, scattering the rocks as if they were mere pebbles.  Now the super heavy duty picnic table holds down one side of the outdoor rug for us. 


My rope door mat I use for scraping mud off my shoes before going inside, is wedged on my step. It doesn't seem to take flight, but it can get soaking wet.  Oh and the laundry that is hanging out back, have to fetch that all in too, before it blows away or gets soaked. 


Ever tried to pick your undies out of a 40 foot high tree branch?  


Another way, I simply provide endless entertainment around here. 


It's a wonder I ever get any work done at all. Like today, I had just set up everything outside to work, got all comfy, then inexplicably high winds hit, flapping the awning, blowing things off my table.  Then puppy started begging for a walk, so I put things inside, locked the door and off we went on a hike to satisfy his needs and give the pet parent some exercise. That's in case I haven't already had enough exercise from setting up the patio, breaking down the patio, setting up the awning, taking down the awning...


I'm taking the slow camera, just in case we get a peek at those deer again. I don't want to run into that wild feline though.  I thought it was a mountain lion, the ranger thinks it was a bobcat. It's daytime, so we should be fine, as they hunt at night anyhow. I seriously doubt the wild creature would be interested in my tough old meat, but my little 6 pound puppy, could make a tasty snack, so I don't let him play alone outside, after dark. Maybe he needs one of those collars with the big sharp spikes on it. 

By the way, if anyone orders 12 more items through my Amazon link before April 30th, my tiny commission is increased from 6.5% to 7% for this month only. I would make almost an extra $10 (maybe more, if a large order came through.)  You have no idea what $10 means to me these days. I have become an expert at living on a teeny tiny budget while I fight my way through recuperating.  

But life is GOOD!  I am happy I woke up alive, very excited to be here on this gorgeous spring day. 

There is always something beautiful, if you just snoop around.  

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Mountain Lion, Again?

This blogger program is not acting right lately. I better back it all up in case they crash and burn. 


It ate another post. It's in there.  Saved.  But won't let me access it.  So I tried to start a new post.  It just hung up for an hour. Technology meltdown I guess. 


I was spared the horrible damage that wreaked havoc on neighbors just north of me. I am super duper uber lucky. Tiger Mountain Cutlery on U.S. 441 North in Mountain City, Georgia was literally cut in half.  Check out the picture. 


The storm last night was scary. I was out at midnight, taking the awning down, wishing I had done it sooner. Then as an afterthought, I grabbed up all of little Harley's toys that were outside. He was waiting anxiously at the screened door, as I tossed the toys inside.  I grabbed his leash, taking him on a final last-call to water the bushes. This was past midnight. We don't usually go out that late, but since I was up and he was up, seemed liked a good idea. 


We took a short walk, then came back through the yard, at the edge of the forest. 


That's when we heard IT.  


IT let out what sounded like a mountain  lion or bob cat, grumble or growl. It reminded me of when we saw the mountain lion in Georgia last June at Lake Strom Thurmond (Clarks Hill Lake). 


I wrote about that mountain lion last June;  "Something In The Bush". 

IT  sent a chill down my back last night. Thoughts raced through my mind of all the times we had heard loud crashing in the woods late at night. Cats can see very well after dark.  That's when they hunt.  At the time, we thought it was the deer thrashing about, or Big Foot. Yeah, I had been joking with my friends that Big Foot wakes me up at night. We've seen the deer around. We haven't see Big Foot. 


I turned to flee, but Harley, wanted to confront IT.   He was of course barking loudly, tugging at the leash, intent on protecting us and our area. 


Well, I was a total wimp. We were maybe 50 feet from the motorhome.  I made it in 3 steps! Poor Harley was yanked along with me. When I paused at the door, forgetting in my panic, HOW TO OPEN THE DOOR, Harley ran back to the end of the long leash giving IT another loud verbal thrashing. 


For those of you not familiar with a motorhome, the door doesn't come with a doorknob, at least mine didn't. It has a latch.  I stood there like an idiot, fumbling for a door knob that didn't exist. 


Finally I got the latch open, pulled on the leash while Harley was furiously barking up his own roar, got him in the door, which I slammed then firmly locked.  Something was cooking in the crockpot, had the odors attracted IT?  (I often cook things overnight in the crockpot. )


I ran around closing all the windows. Harley was now up in the driver's seat, still barking up a storm, like he wanted to bust out the window. 


Finally I calmed us both down. We sat in bed wide awake. I got out his brush and PawFume spray, then groomed him.  Next, we played tug-of-war with the teddy bear.  Then we played toss the teddy bear. Then we played bouncy ball. 


Next I checked the map. The last time we saw a mountain lion, was Mistletoe State Park in Georgia. As the crow flies, less than 100 miles southeast of here. In nine months time, a mountain lion or bobcat could easily traverse the area, following the rivers that connect the lakes.    While we didn't SEE a mountain lion last night, something grumbled or  growled at us, like a large cat warning us, and it was very close by in the woods.  It seemed to be be only feet away when I heard it.  I would have liked to have passed it off as imagination (safer that way!) but Harley was hysterical. 


Now we were safe and sound in bed, when the phone rang.  A friend warning me that they were watching TV (I don't have a TV) that  a bad storm was on the way with possible tornadoes. 


The storm came,  hiting with thunder, lightning and pounding rains on the roof. The motorhome rocked and rolled like a small ship lost in a big storm.  I just prayed the tornadoes stayed away from us. I sure didn't want to be running for cover elsewhere,  with IT out there. 


Whatever IT was. 


Which by the way, mountain lions do eat deer.  That link takes you to an interesting article and pictures of a mountain lion dragging a dead deer.  I've seen deer around here several times.  I've tried to capture their picture, but they flee! 


Last year I did a ton of research on mountain cats in Georgia. Now that I'm looking at it again I find some interesting information. 


June 2010, I saw a mountain lion near Lake Strom Thurmond in Appling, Georgia. (90 miles from me currently)


April 2010, mountain lion reported in Georgia but town not mentioned, it's on a  mountain lion forum. 


June 2009, 3 big cat reports in Hall County Georgia. (40 miles from me)


November 2008, mountain lion killed by a hunter in Troup County Georgia (about 160 miles from me).


Two weeks prior, in November 2008,  a trail cam caught a picture of a mountain lion in Harris County Georgia. (180 miles from me currently)


November and December 2007, cougar sightings in Clemson, SC (Clemson is also on Hartwell Lake) 


October 2006, cougar sightings in Franklin County, Georgia (I am in Franklin County, Georgia now)


Well, I went out looking for evidence today and got some astonishing pictures!  More on that tomorrow, I am dead tired now. 

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Ruff Encounters of a Woof

Harley likes to carry his tail curved over his back. It's awfully cute when he wags it rapidly in delight.  In this case, he is studying the dog that has confronted us. 

Harley dog and I went for a walk with the camera.  The only way I can keep up with my active pooch and take pictures without dropping the camera, is to wear it on a cord around my neck. 


I look like a tourist walking a jumping bean on a leash. 

Honeysuckle is starting to appear everywhere in the woods. 

I would prefer an adjustable wrist strap, but somebody chewed it off.  I coaxed a wire tie into the minuscule slot on the side of the camera, twisted it up firmly, then hung it off a lanyard that came with a jump drive. 

Both my cameras are older ones, donated by readers (Angels!)  One I've had around for a few years.  When I was writing my Caribbean weather blogs with island tales, I mentioned one day there would be no more pictures as my camera had bit the dust. The tiny island had a small dismal selection of grossly overpriced cameras.  Mailorder companies seem terrified of shipping to the island, so it was a problem. 

Drew from Minnesota, immediately sent me an older camera.  Thousands of pictures later, it inexplicably died. The Caribbean atmosphere is very rough on electronics. He sent another older camera (He's a Super Angel!) that I've been using until a few weeks ago, it suddenly started acting up, spitting out pale brownish blurs for pictures. I probably got tens of thousands of pictures out of it in the past. 

Meanwhile, another friend donated an older camera, they no longer used, since they had a big nice fancy one now. But it took me a heck of a long time to make peace with it, learning how to use it without a manual. At first it took an awfully long time to take a picture, so I ended up with blurry shots and often totally missed the action shot I wanted. The batteries would die every few pictures (I've since rectified that problem by turning off all the battery hogging options). 

One day the puppy chewed the wrist strap off. I was mad and surprised. He has never destroyed any of my stuff (except clothes pins) as he has heard me say "NO!" to everything of mine he ever tried to mess with. The first week of our life together, he quickly learned to play with his toys and leave my stuff alone. So I was shocked he chewed the wrist strap off one day. He knew I was plenty mad at him, when he saw me discover the missing strap, telling him a loud "NO!" over and over. He folded up his tail, hanging his head down, trying to shrink into the chair he was sitting in. He looked deeply worried.

We still have words about the wooden clothes pins though. If he should locate an errant wooden clothes pin, he rips it apart, then nibbles down on the wood. 

But otherwise, he seems fairly well behaved about leaving my stuff alone. I've been lucky, as sometimes he gets left alone in the motorhome for hours, while I go somewhere without him. Generally this is when someone invites me out to eat. My friends unintentionally try to unnerve me by asking, after we are about 10 miles from the motorhome "Aren't you worried he will tear your motorhome to pieces while you are gone?"

Usually I reply with something like "Not if he values his scrawny little neck!"

In each case, I've returned to the motorhome, finding all is well in spite of the temptations left laying around, like my shoes, or the small garbage can under the table and so on. He does often drag his toys out, leaving a trail of puppy play, down the aisle and across my bed.  In spite of his chronic stubbornness, he did learn early on, that he can't mess with my stuff and I let him know it's ALL my stuff.  

Sunflowers lined many parts of the rural roads we walked. 

 We were exploring a new area. Since there was no traffic, I was letting Harley do his favorite thing on a leash; darting around in all directions sniffing grass, smelling flowers, studying the world at his tiny height. We exited the park where we workcamp, walking up and down rural roads. 

Three times we ran into big loose dogs who wanted to be a bit territorial. So we stopped, just standing there letting the dogs give us a good long look. In each case, their pet parents were no where around.  I was hoping that the fact they were running loose, meant they were more or less friendly.  Still the way they barked ferociously running towards us, made me a bit uneasy. My puppy dog would be a mere hors d'oeuvre, should they feel the urge to taste test him. 

I was hoping nothing bad would happen. I can't run, due to my injuries though I am getting pretty good at walking briskly sometimes. Briefly I thought about all the what ifs...  If one of the dogs came to attack us, should I scoop up puppy in my arms, to save him while my flesh became a sacrifice?  Should I unhook his leash since he can run faster than any dog we've ever met?  What if he decided not to run, but to confront the dog?  Surely he would lose, as these dogs clearly outweighed him 20 to 1. 

So as we stood there, holding our ground, confronting the first strange dog without approaching, but not backing down either, the dog kept coming towards us, wavering between being protective of his perceived area and alternately letting his tail wag briefly, but not totally letting his guard down. 

We started to slowly continue on our walk, the dog shadowed us briefly, then found something else to do. 

In the middle of this picture is a tiny white square. That is my motorhome on the western side.

 Fifteen minutes later, we have two more large dogs come out of nowhere, barking and running straight at us. We repeated the last performance, only this time we turned around, going back from where we came. Harley resisted this retreat at first, but I continued, his leash firmly in hand, so he had to come along. At least he didn't sit down on his butt trying to make me drag him

He did that the other day when we were crossing a small bridge that connects to a floating dock. He sat down, letting me drag him, as I tried to coax him to walk over the bridge. I tried not to burst out laughing, this puppy that doesn't even weigh 7 pounds, is putting on the brakes, refusing to walk forward. 

Finally I scooped him up, carrying him securely across the bridge, murmuring comforting things in his ear. We've run across this problem before, he is scared of docks and bridges. I want him to get over this fear. He is so fearless about everything else, I have no idea what it is about bridges and water.  Maybe his past owners did something horrible to him. He is also terribly frightened of laundry rooms.  Another mystery, that makes me wonder about the past owners. But it's time he got over it. I would never hurt my precious baby. 

When we reached the dock, I put him down. I've read that his tiny body mass can't handle cold water. Indeed this is the same doggy that wears sweaters or coats or shirts when the temperature plunges below 72F degrees. He walked around the floating dock, sniffing it over, briefly glancing at the lake. Then I headed back across the bridge, with his leash pulled up short.  He walked on his own, grateful to be heading towards terra firma. 

Maybe we are making progress in this department.  Last time, I had to carry him both ways. This time only one way. 

Tall pampas grass.  I don't think this grew wild, as it was planted suspiciously close to a rural mailbox.

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Oh No

Now I know where my posts went...


Lost in  cyberworld!  I wrote a nice long column with pictures. Then I hit the send button and it VANISHED. 


Boo hoo.

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Easter Monday 2011

I hope you all survived the Easter Bunny.  I had a friend pop in by surprise, so I made us a huge Easter dinner, after we went shopping.  I had all 3 burners on the stove going, plus the crockpot and the microwave. Amazing what you can turn out in a tiny galley. I made everything from scratch except the gravy. I cheated with that. I started with a can of brown gravy, then added fresh chopped onions, fresh sliced mushrooms, black pepper, and  a tablespoon of horseradish.  I simmered it while everything else was cooking. 


We had peppered steak with mushroom gravy,  stir fried spanakopita with squash and onions, corn on the cob, plus a baked potato.  When all was said and done, we split a chocolate Easter bunny, my friend had bought.  We washed it all down with  iced green tea. I had made 3 quarts, we finished them all. 


I found corn on the husk, my favorite!  I chopped the ends off 2 ears, left the husks on, then put them in the microwave for 10 minutes, let them sit another 5 minutes, then popped off the husk, and spread butter on the steaming corn. Yummy!  Cooking them in the husk gives the corn fabulous flavor. Ditto for doing them on the grill in the husk. Though unless the corn is super fresh and moist, it's best to soak them in water or wrap in foil or both, before grilling. 

This is my first camp fire since I got the motorhome in December 2009. Actually, one night recently,  I was mad at the pollen that covers up my entire patio.  It is highly flammable. I had been tossing sticks in the firepit since the various storms keep coming by, leaving sticks and branches everywhere. Then I swept up all the pollen and threw it in the firepit too. I was thinking it would blow right back out again. So I set it on fire. To my surprise, it flared right up, setting all the wood on fire in the firepit. Harley the puppy dog and I enjoyed getting our paws all toasty warm. 

I keep discovering nifty things to do with a small crockpot. I bought some jumbo potatoes recently. I scrubbed this big bad boy down with fresh water, then put him in the crockpot on low, with the lid on. A few hours later, I had this moist tasty baked potato that was awesome. I didn't poke him with a fork before cooking.  I think that kept it very moist. It wasn't dried out like a regular baked potato. It was just perfect. 

The other evening, I made a large batch of multigrain pancakes. I had about 5 for dinner one night with real maple syrup. The rest of the batch, I froze in separate ziplock baggies with three in each baggie. Now when I want multigrain pancakes, I just pull a package of 3 out of the freezer, place them on a plate, douse with real maple syrup, then put in the microwave for 90 seconds.  The pancakes taste fresh.  Since real maple syrup has to be kept refrigerated, once the bottle is open, this method works great for heating both at once. 

Chopped baked apples with cinnamon, go well with the pancakes. This is one whole apple, that I scrubbed clean, then chopped up, sprinkled with cinnamon, then microwaved 5 minutes. I took this picture, after they were cooked, but before I stirred them up to distribute the heat and cinnamon. This apple was so naturally sweet. I felt like I was eating dessert. 

Of course I have to show off my cute little puppy. He is 16 months old now, almost 6.5 pounds. He loves to keep one ear at attention. The temperature had plummeted to 63F degrees, so he is wearing his casual abstract sweater. Notice how he has his front paws tucked into the afghan for warmth. No, I am not getting him mittens too.  He has filled his fleece lined bed in back of him, with his toys. Was he worried they were cold too? 

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Hoppy Easter!

      All I Needed to Learn about Life,

 I Learned From the Easter Bunny

        Don't Put all your eggs in one basket..

Sometimes you have to hop to it...
        Other times it pays to be all ears..

Be flexible, people and easter eggs come in all colors...
        There's no such thing as too much chocolate..

It's good to feel warm and fuzzy...
        Let happiness multiply like rabbits..

Do anonymous good deeds, because you can...
         The best things in life are sweet but sticky..
        The grass is always greener in someone else's basket..
        You're entitled to a bad hare day now and then..
        Some body parts are just floppy..
        All work and no play can make you a basket case..

Your tail might be cuter than you think...

       Keep your paws off other people's jelly beans..

HOPPY EASTER!

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