Winding A Turkish Turtle

Day 186: While I've never had much success at spinning on a bottom-whorl drop spindle, for some reason, using a Turkish-style model has come easily. It has a distinct advantage over the round-whorled types, in that when you are done, you have a ready-made center-pull ball which is easily removed from the spindle by removing the shaft and pulling out the crossarms. As you can see by using the pencil for comparison, I am spinning a fine single here, and winding it on in the "god's-eye" manner known as a turtle. Forming a well-made Turkish turtle is a skill all of its very own! The spun yarn passes under one arm, over two, laying closely beside itself on both top and bottom. For me at least, effecting this takes almost as much time (or perhaps more) than spinning the length of yarn, and while my technique still leaves something to be desired, it's much better than it was on my first attempts. Two such turtles will eventually be used to form a double-ply strand. It should be noted that the turtle can also be called a cop, and you should be relieved that I have spared you all the possible "good cop, bad cop" humour, at least for now.

Pond Sliders

Day 350: My last several visits to Lake St. Clair have generated invasive-species reports, and not solely of plants. The Pond Slider population is growing. Trachemys scripta is a non-native species, probably introduced into the lake when someone decided to release their pets into the wild. After spotting adults a couple of years ago, I got in touch with the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and was asked to monitor them for any evidence of reproduction. Normally, these turtles have a high mortality rate in our climate and die off before they can breed. However, this year I noticed several young Sliders near one island, and one adult in another arm of the lake. Day before yesterday, I counted four young and one adult in the two eastern arms. I suspect that warmer water temperatures are giving these turtles a leg up toward becoming a problem in western Washington.

Juvenile Pond Slider

Day 269: Last year during a kayaking trip on Lake St. Clair (the Sundew lake), I spotted three adult turtles basking just off-shore of one of the lake's small islands. I got clear pictures of them and from the markings and physiology, was able to identify both male and female adult specimens of Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta). As I researched species information on these non-native turtles on Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife's webpage, I noticed the following statement: "...virtually all sightings of Pond Sliders involve adults. Additional work to understand the reproductive capability and population dynamics in Washington would aid decisions about management...All observations are of interest and can be submitted to Lori Salzer...Of special interest are any observations of nesting females or hatchlings." I dutifully contacted Lori and sent her the photos. She responded, and asked me to continue to monitor the location for any evidence of slider offspring.

Two weeks ago, I returned to Lake St. Clair for the purpose of visiting the Sundews. My route goes past the island (a dot of land roughly 350' on its longest dimension), so I swung in close to look for turtles. I spotted two, but these were only about a fifth the size of the adults I'd observed previously. Sure enough, the Sliders are breeding. The good news is that for now, the population seems to be confined to the one island, although there is a second island quite close by. Between rarities and invasives, I have my work cut out for me.

A Three Turtle Day

Day 202: I'm going to be quoting a lot from the Washington Herp Atlas here because I know little or nothing about herps. Initially, I was excited about having seen turtles while I was out in the kayak today, but in researching the exact species, I discovered that this is a non-native Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta), easily identified by the red patch just behind the eye. The males have long claws, and in fact of the three specimens I photographed, two were male. I believe the one in this photo is female.

Native to the eastern part of the country, Pond Sliders probably got their toehold in Washington when someone released pet turtles into the wild or they escaped captivity. They were commonly available in pet stores until 1975 when concern over children contracting salmonella stopped their sale. That said, the Herp Atlas database says that the species may be unsuited to our climate because notable die-offs involving large numbers of Trachemys have occurred in some areas. Although these turtles do compete with native species, there is no plan in place currently to remove them from Washington waters.

I think I need to get up on the other side of the bed. I seem to be on a binge of finding things I wish I hadn't found.

Kevin Turtlesitter

Day 221 (by request of a mutual friend): On our way to the annual Volunteer Brunch yesterday, I mentioned to Kevin the fact that I needed a photo of something caged outdoors for the monthly photo "scavenger hunt" which sometimes inspires the material for these posts. He gave the project about three minutes' thought and then replied, "I'm taking care of Ron W's turtles while he's gone. They're in an outdoor cage. I don't know how good a subject they'd be, but I have to run over there after we get back and you're welcome to come along."

The turtles (and there are actually three of them, although only one appears in this photo) eat earthworms. After I had taken several photos of one of them, Kevin went about his duties as turtle-sitter, entering the spacious enclosure to drop the worms in the turtles' water dishes. I'm not sure why he hunkered down, but it gave me an unexpected opportunity to capture both the sitter and one of the "sittees."