Nation Building

Mike jokingly accused me of Nation Building. For a turtle. And I have to give him a huge shout-out because he humored me and totally enabled it. Yay Mike!! You see, it all started yesterday during our Fall transition gardening day. I am using images from the internet - I'm too lazy to go outside right now but I found some very close matches to the real thing - so to continue: 

 Mom and I were ruthlessly pulling out annuals in the yard that wouldn't survive the winter and redoing our summer patio pots to add winter kale, swiss chard, and pansies. It took the better part of the day. Mike was closing the house vents and commented that it was getting too difficult to fight his way into the air conditioner pit. Mom's Black Beauty Salvia is MASSIVE and has merged with eunonymous. Looks alot like this:

So she pruned to recreate the passageway I had made at the beginning of summer. Once she got in the pit, she figured she'd do some clean up, remove the hose, etc.  That's when it happened:  She found a hibernating turtle.  I had been betting it hibernated UNDER the mass of plants,but she found the turtle under the hose to the air conditioner and a thin layer of grass and leaves. 

I figured it was Son of a Gun and I didn't want to disturb his spot for a second time, but I was perplexed as to how he got in there. I looked all over for a tunnel or a way up and over the foot+ high stacked 6X6's. It sure seemed like it would be a problem to me. As the evening grew frigid and a big ol' storm blasted through I got to worrying about Son of a Gun.  So I googled eastern box turtle hibernation. I discovered that turtles are good climbers.  OK, so maybe he can get out if he wanted to, but how did he get IN then - did he fall? What if he falls trying to get out and lands upside down? Does he even want to be in there for the winter?  

Well, I read alot and obviously found some great pics, but it turns out people actually build turtle enclosures the same size as where Son of a Gun is currently snoozing.  And you see where this is going, don't you......

NOT QUITE!!!!

Hahaha - I laughed so hard when I saw this while looking for ideas to best support my hibernating, possibly stuck in the pit turtle. I mentioned some possible solutions to Mike and he graciously, if mockingly, helped. I moved the little guy into his new coconut igloo covered by leaves and pine straw and found out he is NOT Son of a Gun. I discretely looked at his undershell, since my googling had revealed some gender distinction information, and I kinda hoped I had a potential girlfriend. But I think this one is a male. So, note to self: check on the gender of Son of a Gun when I see "him" again. Maybe all hope is not lost. (when I was a kid, we ended up with turtle babies and I would LOVE to see that happen here!) 

So, this is almost exactly what our pit looks like, but ours is a bit higher.

This is one of the hibernation in progress photos - it was then topped off by a few inches of leaves.  I think you get the picture (haha).  Since my pit is pretty much the same only it has 4 sides, I did the same thing and just added more soil, leaves, and pine straw. Oh, and brick stairs to go to and fro. That was Mike's contribution :) It looks like this, but better.

After I was finished I thought I'd see if the Nation Building comment was deserved.  I decided there were enough coincidences that I can't dodge that one. 

Turtle Nation Building - 

1) Solves a difficult social problem - getting in and out of the pit could be a very difficult social (not to mention hazardous) problem especially if a likely female box turtle happens by that might want to canoodle for the winter.

2) Achieve objectives in interaction with other governments (aka humans) - food, shelter, and water. This was my main concern and I'm sure my wild turtles do just fine without my help, but I'm not losing another night's sleep worrying whether or not it can get in or out, and if it is going to be warm enough in that scrabble dirt pit. Now I can let it do its own thing and if a turtle wants to interact by visiting the yard, with objective #1 taken care of, we both benefit.

3) Manage environment and natural resources - As a responsible nation builder I mainly used resources found in the yard - logs, leaves, soil and brick. I added a couple bags of topsoil, a layer of leaves and topped with a couple bales of pine straw. I created four safe spots for the turtle because I know for a fact they are difficult to please. So now we have enough room and safe environment to raise a family - in the event that canoodling happens. 

4) Culturally appropriate systems - I think I get a gold star for this one. More than simply raising living standards - a successful foundation and beautification of a turtle corridor has solved a particular problem (access) and added culturally appropriate materials (housing) while not creating turtle dependence on foreign aid. 

Well, that's it. I think another title for this post could be 

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!!