Just another day in paradise; a giant sea turtle nesting in our yard!

Just another day in paradise.    

Sparky and Max, our two island rescue-mutts, and I wander down the sidewalk in the semi-darkness. 

It’s the early morning pee-walk-for-pets, the one that happens before I get to enjoy my first cup of coffee. 

I prefer to stumble along the seashore in the morning with the dogs off their leashes, but at this time of year, the beach is a minefield of mama sea turtles digging nesting holes. Some of the holes are four feet deep, and sometimes the mama turtles are still in the holes.

Sparky and I are restless sleepers. 

Max and Sparky, checking out the turtle smells

He noses me awake well before dawn. Lawrie and Max, on the other hand, could sleep through a category five hurricane and an 8.9 earthquake. 

It takes both of us, Sparky and me, to wake up Max and convince him he has to go for a pee. 

He’s not a happy camper.

Lawrie's photo early in the morning

The next fifteen to twenty minutes are a comedy routine of Sparky pulling me, and me dragging Max.

“Come on, Max. Walk a little faster, please.” I exhort, followed by “Sparky, slow down. Wait for Max.”

Sparky flips me one of those looks, “Really. Slow down? He’s nearly motionless.”

“Well, Max is just not a morning guy like you, Sparky,” I tell him.  We continue our pull-drag pace a block south and turn to make our way back. Finally, Max is awake enough to pee.

Mama turtle - digging, digging, digging.

As we near our house, I can see Lawrie standing in the street, waving frantically at me. 

“Hurry up!” He shouts quietly, trying not to wake up our neighbours.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” I am about to pick up Max’s hefty twenty-eight-pound body and run home.

“No, no problem. Unless you think a turtle digging in our yard is a problem.” He says with a happy grin.

Sparky watching from our upper deck.

“Come on, boys, let’s go!” And surprisingly, Max breaks into a run. Maybe he thinks I said Let’s eat. The dog likes his food.

We barrel inside the house, scrambling to remove dog leashes and harnesses, but keeping the dogs locked inside. 

We discovered a few weeks ago that mama turtles don’t like being sniffed by inquisitive canines. 

The boys will have to watch with us from the upper ocean-side deck.

My photo has been shared and reshared on web.

And there she is, digging up the back yard. 

During the night, she had wandered from side to side, front to back, testing the ground before she finally located the deep sand at the bottom of the yard.

Lawrie had, uncharacteristically, woken up when I left with the two dogs and wandered out onto the upper patio to check our neighbours’ beach. 

A few seconds later - same turtle.

There are usually one or more fresh holes every morning. 

Instead, he spotted the mama tossing sand in our yard. He grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos without a flash, but it was still too dark to really see her. 

By the time the dogs and I had returned home, the light was perfect for photos. We watched while she dug yet another hole, then moved along and dug another and another.

Lawrie chatting with the turtle, Ken Jost photo

Familiar guests, Norma and Ken Jost, were staying next door at a rental property. They are also early risers and noticed the commotion in our yard. Ken took some amazing photos as well as videos. 

Eventually, the mama turtle lumbered down the path toward Casa Luna and then turned right and lumbered toward the water.

And away she goes around 7:30 a.m.

We don’t know if she laid eggs, but we are watching and counting down the sixty days of incubation. 

Fingers-crossed, everything goes well if there are eggs.

So, yeah, just another boring day in paradise. What did you do this morning?

Cheers

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Max

Lawrie tidying up the beach.

~
Isla Mujeres Mystery series