heya. so turtles. When I was
little I remember turtles being sold on the
street corners of
Recently one of my coworkers brought in a turtle for the day to hang out in
it's plastic tiny walled world.
She had gotten two lil guys as a present, but the
other had passed away.
This turtle- "Turdy" whom I called him
secretly (since hello... "TURtle" and
well, ummmm his water was a
it murky. She in her broken Japanese/English was
trying to explain he got nervous on subway and was reacting by going # 2
frequently, OR she wasn't sure if that was his turtle food gone wet. I
didn't see him eat it either way so that was a relief.) was
exceptionally
beautiful. Half spots, half lines all over him. Feisty lil
swimmer trying to
do laps in his 6" x 9" surroundings. Of course he had to deal with me
scaring him by hoping he'd look at me & we would connect, come up to the
side of aquarium to say hi to me or something- but of course he didn't.
Well, last week she decided to find him a new friend turtle. She went to
china town & searched.
She had to go up to lil elderly ladies at the fish
market and ask to see
their turtles all covert. Mind you she is the cutest thing ever,
and yes
broken English. She had to explain in vain that she already had 1 and needed
a friend for it. And finally got a new turtle! I had no idea that now a days
they were hidden like the knock off designer bags! Sure they are illegal
with their possible death causing bacteria but damn.. black market turtles!
Did you also hear about the big problem of turtles being released in Turtle
pond up in
from Aug Gothamist:
"
Buddhists looking to increase their spiritual merit by rescuing soup-bound
turtles, those turtles' rescuers, and the natural ecosystem of Central Park
are all coming into conflict in New York. The
yesterday on the practice of fangsheng, which is a
Buddhist practice dating
back to the 6th century and involves setting turtles or other animals free
and supposedly improves the circumstances of one's rebirth. Unfortunately,
the species of turtle most frequently purchased in Chinatown and then
released in the East River by Buddhists is the red-eared slider, a type of
turtle not fit for survival in the briney
So many turtles are released into the
conservationists have taken to rescuing them along the water's edge. The Sun
followed Neal Seigel on one of his daily walks along
the river between the
Brooklyn and
nurses them back to health before setting them free in Turtle Pond in
beginning to be a problem due to the number of them in the pond.
This practice, and the fact that other New Yorkers may be
getting rid of
pet turtles in Central Park, has led to a proliferation of red-eared
sliders, according to Maria Hernandez, the gardener in charge of the pond.
"They are basically a problem because there is so many
of them," Mr.
Hernandez said. "We try and discourage it because it is not a native
species."
Some Buddhist temples are encouraging their members to make monetary
donations to environmental and animal welfare organizations rather than
releasing turtles and other species in habitats where they probably won't
thrive or could possibly harm the ecosystem."