Another kind of spring planting

     With the arrival of May in our area of Florida, people by the beach are required to limit their outside light bulbs to red ones, and volunteers hit the sand at dawn. The turtles are coming.

          In May the sea turtles arrive to begin laying their eggs. The red light bulbs are necessary because they have a different wave length than ordinary bright white ones, which can distract the moms-to-be and later disorient their babies who should be working their way back to the ocean, not surging toward someone’s car port or swimming pool.

          The “egg volunteers” hit the beaches early in the morning, before the sun worshippers can unknowingly slam their beach chair

on top of a nest created the night before. Volunteers walk a mile-long section, often in pairs, scouting for new nests. Once they find one, they stake yellow tape around the area, and in some cases even place screens or cages over it to protect the eggs from armadillos, raccoons, or coyotes.

          We may now be back in Massachusetts, but yesterday as My Guy and I were hanging curtains, I wasn’t so sure of that. 

         

 Outside the window, I saw an unfamiliar object in our back yard.

          A friend said she’d had turtles come and lay eggs in the mulch next to her house, and after they hatched had gone outside with a bucket, to gather up the hatched babies in a bucket in order to transport them to a nearby swamp.

          Maybe I’d better check the garage for a bucket of my own.