One of the advantages of camping is the immersion in nature. In the best campsites, you are nestled between the trees and sometimes you are even serenaded by a near-by water feature. All this precipitates the presence of “wild” animals. No, we don’t have lions and tigers and bears roaming the campsite here; but we do have birds, gopher turtles, and assorted reptiles.
Yesterday morning, we were greeted by a cute little green tree frog. While these are not uncommon around here, it was the first we have seen this visit. He/she ( I didn’t look ) was down in a curled up leaf. It did spend the day there in the provided shade but was gone this morning.
In another pot, was one of the many anoles. Remember the “chameleons” we used to buy at the fair? They were on a string tied to a safety pin for you to pin on your shirt. How could we consider that humane treatment? They were actually anoles. Here in Florida, they are all over scurrying around. They do change color, hence the name chameleons. They are often bright green.
One of our favorite local animals is the gopher turtle. They live in holes in the ground and come out on warm sunny days to bask in the sun.
Yesterday afternoon I was inside working on my computer. The temperature outside was in the eighties so I was postponing my afternoon walk till later when the sun was a little lower in the sky. As I was writing my article, my thought process was interrupted by something. I could not remember what I was writing and while this is not completely out of the ordinary, I just felt edgy as if something were wrong. I got up from the computer and started to pace like I didn’t know what to do. Marilyn gave me that ” what are you doing” look. I said, ” I’m going to go get some steps in so I can have my afternoon snack”. If you have been following us for long, you know we do the intermittent fasting. We don’t eat breakfast nor lunch. About 3PM we have a little snack like fruit or 1/2 a protein bar. Recently, we have added the condition that we don’t get the snack unless we have so many steps. For me, that is 8,000 steps for the snack and 10,000 for the ice cream after dinner treat.
I told Marilyn that I was just uneasy, and I was going to head back into the “wilderness” and hike in the woods to get my thoughts together. The woods were cooler and a lot more rejuvenating than just walking the campground roads. I walked back to the edge of the woods and there was a big Gopher turtle basking in the sun, but he was upside down and obviously in distress. It appeared he was in the middle of pooping when he tipped over as there was feces beside him and some resting on his overturned shell. I turned him over and watched as he quickly made his way into the high grass and out of sight.
I know that many of you might say, “Isn’t that a coincidence that you were there to save him.” If you know me, you know that I believe that we are all connected to all living things. I also believe events like these are rarely, if ever, just coincidence. He called out, and I picked up his silent call for help and was guided to help him. I don’t know if he would have been able to right himself. There was debris around him that might have hindered his ability to turn over, and the sun on his exposed lower shell might have depleted his energy. I will never know for sure. My gut tells me that he called out and I felt his need. It was a call of the wild and I was there to hear him. Love and Light to you all from sunny Florida.
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