Travels with Howie

November 6, 2012 , 4 pm cst     temp.81 degrees f.

Last year we didn't get around to going to the turtle rescue center until well into the winter and then it was too cold and the  pools for the turtles were covered.  We went earlier this year. 

This is Gerry, a male  green sea turtle who spent a lot of time looking at us look at him ...he was waiting for us to feed him some lettuce but there wasn't any available at the time.    How much lettuce does it take to feed a 200 pound turtle, I wonder.  In the sea, he eats mostly sea grass.

 Gerry is a permanent resident of the center and is used in some of their education lectures.  In this capacity, he has met some famous people including  Johnny Carson and David Letterman    

This is the Kemps Ridley turtle, the only one native to our area.  His name is Hang 10 and he is a permanent resident .  He was rescued  when he was young and he will stay here because he has genetic  deficiencies.  Don't know what the deficiencies are but I  think it involves the mouth.  Kemps Ridleys are the smaller sea turtles.

The sex of turtles is determined by the temperature in their nest.  Below 85 degrees= males. Above 85...well, you get the idea.

Turtles only lay eggs every other year and they usually lay hundreds at a time.  There is no menopause for the female turtle..she will lay eggs all her life, but like the director says, once she lays them she is finished with them so .....no hassle raising the kiddies.

This is the director of the center, Jeff George.

Here is something I didn't know: Leatherback turtles eat mostly jellyfish and if you look at this picture, you can see how plastic bags are a danger to them.

Here is a wall of pictures of turtles saved.

Tomorrow, Nov 7th, they are releasing three more rehabilitated turtles.  The public is invited to  go and it only costs $10 each to be on the boat when they go out to do this.

We talked about going but I think I would have a lot of trouble being on a boat.  There really isn't much to see either, so we decided......... .no.

This just doesn't seem like the right wording.  It looks like these dedicated turtle rescue people are riding the highways looking for stranded turtles...perhaps at a bus stop or at a local bar asking for a ride to the nearest seashore.

This is a photo at the rescue center of a hatching.  Because predators get most of the turtle before they can get to the water, volunteers protect the new hatch until they get to the water.  

One in one thousand turtles will make it to adulthood.

We tried to guess who the owner of this car might be.  A felon? A lawyer?  A hard nosed judge?

.We stopped in at Cameron County Park on the way home and the owner of this bait shack asked Neil to stand beside this man while he took a picture.   The young man was supposed to working  and owner of the shop took the picture to show his daughter who is engaged to the young man.  Don't know why he wanted Neil in the picture

Finally on the way home, we stopped at what I thought was the Birding Center to go to the bathroom.  I took the picture because I have never seen a public bathroom so clean and attractive.  Turns out I wasn't at the birding center but at the Convention center and there were a lot of well dressed business people with laptops and briefcases there.
Oh, well, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Here is another one of those billboards that irk me.  I don't know who sponsors them but it looks like they are aimed at increasing road rage.