Page 26 - Boca Club News - September '23

Page 26, Boca Club News

The Arts

Book Review…“Of Time and Turtles:

Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell”

By Nils A. Shapiro including being chased task both inside the hospital and out among the fields
People throughout the world will by a silverback gorilla and ponds during the rescue and release operations. They
consider this book a “must read” in Africa, hunted by have assembled a team of many volunteers throughout
when they see the name of award- man-eating tigers in Massachusetts and neighboring states who bring to them
winning author Sy Montgomery on India (which became injured turtles in need of their help, knowing of this facility’s
its front cover. Her more than 30 the subject of a National commitment: “Never give up on a turtle.”
previous books include those which Geographic TV special), At any one time there are more than 200 patients in their
have climbed the bestseller lists in working in a pit with care, fed daily and stacked high in appropriately equipped
25 countries. 18,000 snakes, studying tanks and bins. At first, each is given a number. Not until it is
The Boston Globe has referred to Sy Montgomery as “a octopuses in the Gulf certain that the turtle will survive is it given a name because of
combination of Indiana Jones and Emily Dickinson” for her of Mexico, swimming the emotional attachment that develops between humans and
ability to describe so beautifully her extraordinary adventures, with manta rays and turtles until the patient is released back into the wild where it
sharks, being undressed was found, after care that can often take years of treatment.
Medicare and so many more… underwater for as long as months at a time through a special
by a wild orangutan,

Many turtle species live in water, even able to stay
breathing process explained in the book. (Turtles that live
never once harming
solely on land are called tortoises.) Females, when ready to
another creature.
I am familiar with Ms. Montgomery’s works, having
open enrollMent read, loved and reviewed six of them in earlier columns. lay their eggs, instinctively return to the place on land where
they themselves were born. With strong legs they dig holes
So it was with much eagerness that I looked forward to this
in the dirt, deposit various numbers of eggs depending on
newest book—although with some degree of apprehension
or wooded area where they live. When the eggs hatch, the
since the subject matter, Turtles, seemed a bit tame for this the turtle species, then cover the nest and return to the water
author’s often dangerous escapades. To say that I was in for
hatchlings (baby turtles) instinctively find their way to their
for 2024 a surprise is the understatement of the year! natural habitat. Depending again on the species, some turtles

As expected, this newest of Sy Montgomery’s works
can live for up to 250 years, many for 100 years.
proved to be as wonderfully informative about its subject
The problem is that over the years and centuries, mankind
as are all her other works. You will learn many hundreds of has changed the environment so drastically that the turtles’
cHecK For fascinating facts about the 350 species of the world’s turtles, instincts often prove fatal. For example, the path from a
turtle’s pond to the place where it was born, perhaps many
creatures that have walked this Earth for 250 million years
eXcItInG and outlived the dinosaurs—taking to the seas when the yards away, may now require crossing a highway with the
result that one of the most common and serious emergencies
asteroid that crashed on our planet extinguished most life
brought to the Turtle Rescue League involves patients with
on land—only to become endangered today because of the
deadliest of all predators: humans. cracked or crushed shells or legs or internal injuries who
What is different about this newest book is that it reveals have been run over by cars. Each is treated with expert care.
neW PLanS more about Sy Montgomery the author herself than ever Some will survive, some will not. Hundreds of thousands of
turtles die this way each year on roads and highways on the
before as she becomes emotionally involved in the events
and she describes for us here. The result is that I left many of way to laying their eggs or returning.

the pages stained wet with my own tears of empathy…as I
Some turtles are brought in who have been bitten by
aLL neW suspect many readers will. unleashed dogs who see it as some kind of toy. We even

Interestingly, while most of Sy’s adventures have been
witness here a turtle with an arrow sticking out from its neck
set in all corners of the globe, this one required Sy and a
that was shot by someone “just for fun.”
As Sy Montgomery and Matt volunteer at the hospital
BeneFItS friend of hers, Matt Patterson, to drive just several hours and get to know each of the turtles by name (or number)
from their New Hampshire homes to southern Massachusetts
and individual personality, we share that journey along with
when they learned of a private non-profit turtle rehabilitation
YoU are center there and decided to volunteer their services. Matt them, and the awareness of what these creatures are going
is an award-winning wildlife artist whose black-and-white
through becomes a part of our own experience.
drawings of various turtle species are included in the book,

When word reaches the League that the nesting sites at a
entItLed to along with a section of more than 30 color photos of the business’s large parking lot (which had been thoughtfully roped
off from cars in advance by the company’s compassionate
people and important turtles we meet here.
Sy’s and Matt’s gratifying experiences over several years management) are showing signs of activity in the eggs, we
neW! at the Turtle Rescue League, and which continue to the join Sy, Matt and Natasha who drive to the sites and collect
present day, are what motivated the writing of this new book.
the dozens of baby turtle hatchlings—each only the size of a
maY cHanGe PLanS What they learn as volunteers, and we along with them, is quarter coin—and bring them back to the rescue center where
fascinating, inspiring, yet often shocking and deeply moving.
they can be cared for until they are big enough to be released
JanUarY 1 tHrU marcH 31, 2024 To begin with, since turtles are in the category of reptiles into their proper habitat without running the risk of either road
caLL WItH QUeStIonS their faces have fixed features that cannot express feelings of traffic or attack by predators because of their tiny size.
With Sy and Matt, we witness several important releases
any kind, so it is difficult for most people to think of them as

“pets.” But we soon discover that each is an individual with into the wild, including the hatchlings from the parking
its own personality, and in these pages we get to meet many lot—and a tender and emotional gift of freedom for one very
Peter Gratzon turtles who have bonded with their “people,” for example special turtle, Nibbles, in the keeping of a promise made a
following them around the house and even wanting their decade earlier—for turtles ready to face lives that can last for
toP IndePendent necks and shells scratched. half a century or more, long after Sy and Matt and Alexxia
and Natasha are gone. It is awesome to contemplate how

They are also smart: Tests have shown that some turtles
medIcare aGent are able to navigate mazes for food rewards as quickly as can many lives have already been saved.
laboratory rats. So when at last Sy devotes herself to reflecting inwardly
561-361-7173 in 2009 are Alexxia Bell and her partner, Natasha Nowick, on Life and Time and reveals her own deeply personal
The two women who started the Turtle Rescue League
feelings about the meaning of it all, we are privileged to
c: 561-289-9396 who is legally blind yet somehow skillfully performs every understand more about her…and perhaps about ourselves.
The Book Of Turtles
time for a supplemeNtal plaN? A Book For Children By Sy Montgomery
choose aNy And Matt Patterson
doctor/hospital/No referrals
aNywhere iN the couNtry An oversized book by Sy Montgomery with full-
color, almost photo-realistic, paintings by award-
appoiNted with major iNsuraNce carriers winning illustrator Matt Patterson of more than 30
turtle species, enchants children and young readers
No obligatioN/ with interesting facts about the turtle who lived for
No fees/ 288 years (he was alive when George Washington was
No commissioN born!), the largest and smallest, fastest and flattest Book jacket when opened shows life-size painting of
turtles, the ones with longest necks, most colorful,
call for iN-home appoiNtmeNt stinkiest … and more! Burmese star tortoise.