Page 8 - Martin Downs Bulletin - September '23

Page 8, Martin Downs

Book Review

Of Time And Turtles: Mending To begin with, habitat. Depending again on the species, some turtles can

The World, Shell By Shattered since turtles are in the live for up to 250 years, many for 100 years.
category of reptiles
The problem is that over the years and centuries,
Shell their faces have fixed mankind has changed the environment so drastically that
features that cannot
the turtles’ instincts often prove fatal. For example, the
By Nils A. Shapiro express feelings of any path from a turtle’s pond to the place where it was born,
People throughout the kind, so it is difficult for perhaps many yards away, may now require crossing a
world will consider this book most people to think of highway with the result that one of the most common and
a “must read” when they see them as “pets.” But we serious emergencies brought to the Turtle Rescue League
the name of award-winning soon discover that each involves patients with cracked or crushed shells or legs
author Sy Montgomery on is an individual with its or internal injuries who have been run over by cars. Each
its front cover. Her more own personality, and in is treated with expert care. Some will survive, some will
than 30 previous books these pages we get to not. Hundreds of thousands of turtles die this way each
include those which have meet many turtles who year on roads and highways on the way to laying their
climbed the bestseller lists have bonded with their eggs or returning.
in 25 countries. “people,” for example Some turtles are brought in who have been bitten by
The Boston Globe has following them around unleashed dogs who see it as some kind of toy. We even
referred to Sy Montgomery as “a combination of Indiana the house and even wanting their necks and shells scratched. witness here a turtle with an arrow sticking out from its
Jones and Emily Dickinson” for her ability to describe They are also smart: Tests have shown that some turtles neck that was shot by someone “just for fun.”
so beautifully her extraordinary adventures, including are able to navigate mazes for food rewards as quickly As Sy and Matt volunteer at the hospital and get
being chased by a silverback gorilla in Africa, hunted by as can laboratory rats. to know each of the turtles by name (or number) and
man-eating tigers in India (which became the subject of a The two women who started the Turtle Rescue League individual personality, we share that journey along with
National Geographic TV special), working in a pit with in 2009 are Alexxia Bell and her partner, Natasha Nowick, them, and the awareness of what these creatures are going
18,000 snakes, studying octopuses in the Gulf of Mexico, who is legally blind yet somehow skillfully performs through becomes a part of our own experience.
swimming with manta rays and sharks, being undressed every task both inside the hospital and out among the When word reaches the league that the nesting sites at a
by a wild orangutan, and so many more … never once fields and ponds during the rescue and release operations. business’s large parking lot (which had been thoughtfully
harming another creature. She even encouraged a giant They have assembled a team of many volunteers roped off from cars in advance by the company’s
tarantula to walk across the palm of her hand. throughout Massachusetts and neighboring states who compassionate management) are showing signs of activity
I am familiar with Montgomery’s works, having read, bring to them injured turtles in need of their help, knowing in the eggs, we join Sy, Matt and Natasha who drive to
loved and reviewed six of them in earlier columns. So it of this facility’s commitment: “Never give up on a turtle.” the sites and collect the dozens of baby turtle hatchlings
was with much eagerness that I looked forward to this At any one time there are more than 200 patients in – each only the size of a quarter coin – and bring them
newest book – although with some degree of apprehension their care, fed daily and stacked high in appropriately back to the rescue center where they can be cared for
since the subject matter, turtles, seemed a bit tame for this equipped tanks and bins. At first, each is given a number. until they are big enough to be released into their proper
author’s often dangerous escapades. To say that I was in Not until it is certain that the turtle will survive is it given habitat without running the risk of either road traffic or
for a surprise is the understatement of the year! a name because of the emotional attachment that develops attack by predators because of their tiny size.
As expected, this newest of Montgomery’s works between humans and turtles until the patient is released With Sy and Matt, we will witness several important
proved to be as wonderfully informative about its back into the wild where it was found, after care that can releases into the wild, including the hatchlings from the
subject as are all her other works. You will learn many often take years of treatment. parking lot – and one very tender and emotional gift
hundreds of fascinating facts about the 300 species Many turtle species live in water, even able to stay of freedom for one very special turtle, Nibbles, in the
of the world’s turtles, creatures that have walked this underwater for as long as months at a time through a keeping of a promise made a decade earlier – for turtles
Earth for 250 million years and outlived the dinosaurs special breathing process explained in the book. (Turtles ready to face lives that can last for half a century or
– taking to the seas when the asteroid that crashed on that live solely on land are called tortoises.) Females, more, long after Sy and Matt and Alexxia and Natasha
our planet extinguished all other life on land – only to when ready to lay their eggs, instinctively return to the are gone. It is awesome to contemplate how many lives
become endangered today because of the deadliest of all place on land where they themselves were born. With have already been saved.
predators: humans. strong legs they dig holes in the dirt, deposit various So when at last Sy devotes herself to reflecting
What is different about this newest book is that it numbers of eggs depending on the turtle species, then inwardly on life and time and reveals her own deeply
reveals more about Sy Montgomery the author herself cover the nest and return to the water or wooded area personal feelings about the meaning of it all, we are
than ever before as she becomes emotionally involved where they live. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings privileged to understand more about her … and perhaps
in the events she describes for us here. The result is that (baby turtles) instinctively find their way to their natural about ourselves.
I left many of the pages stained wet with my own tears
of empathy … as I suspect many readers will.
Interestingly, while most of Sy’s adventures have The Book Of Turtles
been set in all corners of the globe, this one required Sy
and a friend of hers, Matt Patterson, to drive just several A Book For Children By Sy Montgomery
hours from their New Hampshire homes to Southern And Matt Patterson
Massachusetts when they learned of a private nonprofit
turtle rehabilitation center there and decided to volunteer An oversized book by Sy Montgomery with full-
their services. Matt is an award-winning wildlife artist color, almost photo-realistic, paintings by award-
whose black-and-white drawings of various turtle species winning illustrator Matt Patterson of more than 30
are included in the book. turtle species, enchants children and young readers
Sy and Matt’s gratifying experiences over several years with such interesting facts as the turtle who lived for
at the Turtle Rescue League, and which continue to the 288 years (he was alive when George Washington was
present day, are what motivated the writing of this new born!), the largest and smallest, fastest and flattest
book. What they learn as volunteers, and we along with turtles, the ones with longest necks, most colorful, Book jacket when opened shows life-size painting of
them, is fascinating, inspiring, yet often shocking and stinkiest … and more! Burmese star tortoise.
deeply moving.

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