Zona

Here are some pics of my back yard. The patio and my bedroom window.

My dad had about 25 turtles residing in the back yard. Most were box turtles that you could find in the desert or buy in pet shops but about six of seven were/are desert tortoises like the one in the picture. Those are illegal to remove from the desert and my dad did not do that. His tortoises were all given to him by people who had aquired them. The fish and game department tolerates people having them in their yards because tortoises are EXTREMELY territorial and once removed from where they were living in the desert they cannot be set free in another place in the desert. They will die if that happens. Dad did have too many of them but he cared for them very well.

My dad studied all the material he could find on turtles and he knew how to take care of them. He found out that turtles could hear and recognize voices. I wish you could have seen it when he came home and went in the back yard with their daily food. He could start talking and they would come out of their dens to eat.

He had at least one mating pair of tortoises and would find babies every spring when they wandered out. They were so small that two would fit in the palm of his hand and he had small "nursery pens" he would put them in. Many of them survived and are doing well. He gave them away to people who he felt would care for them properly. Mom is working now on giving the rest of the turtles away to friends who have suitable back yards to take care of them. They are a lot of work and she has a difficult time keeping up with them.

If you ever wander through the desert and see a tortoise PLEASE leave it alone and never pick it up. A tortoise will appear to urinate when picked up and most of the time that is water crucial to it's survival.

That sunset is what I was looking at when I posted "the sunset whispers and the wind smiles". The day is coming when I won't be able to see that view of a sunset from my back yard. A view I've enjoyed for 40 years.