Rodriga the Turtle and Other Visitors

This week we had some interesting visitors show up to our school gardens. One notable creature was Rodriga the Turtle (named by Tina McInnis and her children). Dr. Kaufman found her in the parking lot and Tina took her home to protect her from cars. She is a beautiful female turtle. Her eyes are not red like the males, and her plastron is flat unlike the concave plastron of the male. We are assuming that she was looking for a place to lay eggs but it seems a bit early for that. One never knows what a turtle is up to. Perhaps she was after the kale and lettuce that the students planted in the raised beds. We decided to keep her in a cage to protect her from cars and then set her free over the weekend. Humans are turtles worst enemy. They often take turtles home and then release them somewhere else. The displaced turtle spends the rest of it's life trying to get back home. Also, turtles are often run over by cars or killed for sport. It's a hard life for a turtle. They can live well over 50 and records show that some have lived to 100 years. This one was huge so who knows how old she is? I'm assuming she is an Eastern Box Turtle.

I also photographed some lady bugs, lady bug eggs, aphids :) , caterpillars, and Mocking Birds, Killdeer, Robins, and Canada geese, that wander into our grounds. Enjoy!