Fall 2012 Newsletter

Dear Members and Friends:

Our Fall meeting will be held on Saturday, October 20th from 1:30 until 4 at the Belle Cooledge Library, 5600 South Land Park Drive, 95822. Once again, Father Dimitri plans on being at the meeting to conduct the pre-hibernation checkups. Please have your pet in a box or carrier and don't pass it around the room. If your turtle or tortoise is already asleep, please do not bring it to the meeting. If your pet is showing signs of disease, it is best to leave it at home but let us know what the symptoms are. We know how stressful this time of the year can be and the warm September we are experiencing is only delaying the inevitable cold weather ahead.

Our Fall meeting is also a fun meeting (aren't they all?) so bring a dish for our pot-luck table; chips, dips; cookies/cakes are always welcome. And remember, Munch and Mingle at 3 and, um, it's ok to dress up your turtle for Halloween for a prize. We all need to laugh now and then...

We will have a lot of potted plants available and there will be hatchlings of various species for adoption or sale. Please proceed carefully because it can be a little tricky keeping the little guys awake, alive and healthy during the winter months ahead.

The TURTLERAMA was a tremendous success with a huge turnout. I think half the city came to see the turtles and displays on a wonderful day. Thanks to all of you for going way over the top with your lovely setups and patience answering so many questions from the public. Special thanks to Maria Lambert, once again, for compiling the list below and also for mopping up the meeting room floor afterwards*. Maria, your efforts are greatly appreciated. And many many thanks to:

Patty Richardson who stood by me and helped throughout the show; Mary Ronstadt (box turtle & face painting) Michael McDaniels (helper) Pam Davis (Coloring table and Gulf Coasts) Corrine Mason (Russians, Redfoot and Map) Lisa Burton (baby Pancakes) Mary Schuett (leopard, Greek, Sulcata) Hide Shimoyoshi and family(Greeks and scorpions and a bearded dragon) Jon Wato (Russian) Michael (Russian & educational material) Craig Gifford (Stars, info, baby Russians) Lois Heister and Granddaughter Emma Meiggs(Ornate box and CA desert tortoises) Kasey Coffman & Steve Bolander (baby 3 toeds)Terry Williams (Helper) Chuck Deguara(albino sliders & baby sliders) Larry Zinky (Texas tortoise)Glenn & Susan (desert tortoise ChoCho) Laura Nishimura(Russian) Joy Cornette (Russians & turtle origami) Debra Chase (helper) Nancy Ghoshal (soft shell, aquatic & ornate miniature) Melissa Aipia & Makani & Mariah (Russian adults and hatchlings) Mariah (Face Painting) Elaine Martinez(Sulcata, Mississippi Map, painted, softshell, slider) Betty Alvord (turtle watches) Sales Table ladies (Shirley Waterman & Mayda Taylor) Father Dimitri (helper) Chris Leiser(gulf coast)plus KIDS CORNER with Ernestine Banks and Tansy Leiser, Suzanne McNamee(Box & Russian) Great Show everyone, what a terrific bunch of wonderful people you are and I'm so proud of all of you. (If I left anyone out, I'll include you in the next newsletter.)

SEE YOU AT THE MEETING!!

This summer is 200% better than last. I was not outside every night shooting my pellet gun and throwing rocks at the vicious raccoon and losing many nights of sleep. We do what we have to do. The only incident I had was 6 days before the Turtlerama, I accidentally whacked my right foot with a 24 inch wavy top edging brick. Boy, did that hurt and swell up. I rested, iced, compressed and elevated (RICE) for the next two days but by Wednesday, I had to get the Turtlerama displays out from every corner of the garage and storage areas and cleaned up. The day before the show, I loaded up and then unloaded two cars full of 'stuff' at the library. Ouch! And more on Turtlerama day! And then afterwards, loaded it back into the cars again. For the next two weeks, I did my best to rest the foot and didn't put the stuff away until the end of August. It's much better now. At least I am not limping anymore!

Meanwhile, the Greeks and Hermann's tortoises continue to aggravate and entertain. Having to sit more, I did more turtle watching than normal and several things became quite clear. The Hermann's tortoises have only one goal in life - to make babies. In so doing, they constantly seek out the females and are relentless in their pursuit. The females don't seem to mind because I noticed that altho they try to run away, they do so at a snail's pace! The Greeks, on the other hand, also seem to want to add to their population but they go about it in a different and not a very productive way. They spend their days chasing any male tortoise of any species, the bigger the better. I can hear the 'hammering' as I sit here typing the newsletter. Excuse me for a moment while I go outside to put Just Jim Jr. back into solitary confinement!!

Re: sliders, I finally came to my senses. I now try to send them to their new homes with large safe ponds without having them come to my house first for 'evaluation'. It all became clear in June when I had 15 big sliders to adopt out which compromised my own few turtles in the small pond. So life At The Bunker is more stable at this moment in time. The turtles and tortoises who were severely injured by the raccoon last year have healed pretty well and manage to get around. I never let my guard down and have come up with more ideas I'll share with you at the meeting and I hope you might have some new ideas of your own on how to prevent these killers from visiting our yards.

I'm happy to report a baby Hermann has hatched. He is really cute, so perfect, spoiled, and I'm hoping for more hatchlings next summer. As for Greek hatchlings, forget it! And I hope the people who do have babies, share their secrets of success with me.

Our meeting after this one won't be until January 26th, so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Holiday Season and a wonderful 2013 to one and all and thank you so much for all of your support this past year. I couldn't do it without you. Our new Facebook friends have made the club even more lively and fun!! Welcome Aboard!!