|
Faith’s Special Visitor
Last year, an Eastern Box Turtle decided the garden outside the pastor’s office was the perfect place to lay her eggs. Well… she’s back!
This week our shelled church member returned and built another nest in the same area. The nest has now been carefully marked off with cones to help keep it protected while nature does its work. If all goes well, we could have tiny hatchlings making their appearance sometime between August 4 and August 24. Under natural conditions, Eastern Box Turtle eggs usually incubate for about 70–90 days.
Here’s another fascinating turtle fact: the temperature of the nest actually determines the gender of the baby turtles. Cooler nests (below about 82°F) tend to produce male turtles, while warmer nests (82°F and above) generally produce females. So, if we have a hot Connecticut summer, this church garden may become a little turtle sorority!
Since this determined mama turtle chooses to visit around Pentecost, it only seems fitting that she receive a proper name worthy of her annual pilgrimage to Faith Lutheran Church. A jar for name ideas will be placed on the trash receptacle counter in the Fellowship Hall. Submit your best ideas, your funniest ideas, or your most theologically creative ideas.
Who knew the church garden would become both a wildlife sanctuary and a turtle maternity ward?
| 
