Warning! Critter Alert!

  My yard work is in full swing!  Well, maybe I overdid it a bit today since that goofy knee is being rude again but a lot was accomplished!  Perhaps, tomorrow I shall rest.  Probably not but, at best, I will have to hobble about the place.  Today, however, things went smoothly.  The idea was to rake where I cut yesterday and to burn the leaves in the enclosed burn bin.  That never happened.  I raked.  I hauled.  Then, Son hauled...and hauled.  He did not complain since we had good reason for not using the burn bin.  It would have been cruel.

  The early morning raking uncovered a sweet baby turtle.  This was the tiniest thing ever and oh, so cute!  That cuteness overload got me to thinking.  If there was one baby turtle hiding in the leaves, how many more were there and just unseen?  Oh, no!!  A burn ban was self posted and the burn bin sat cold.  Nary a wisp of smoke arose above the Little Bayou House.  Instead, forty some odd times, the wheelbarrow was loaded and hauled to the back of the property.  If a baby turtle or any other critter was inadvertently raked and scooped, it was moved to safety.  There the little critters had a fighting chance to survive and not suffer an agonizing death by fire.

  So, head's up, folks!  While springtime gets us all antsy about making the yard look nice, please be on critter alert!  Be nice to those little tykes hiding in the leaves.  The leaves and yard debris provides a nice safe place for the babies to grow.  They blend well and can hide from predators like coons, cats, snakes, crows and even squirrels!  

  The little turtle that was uncovered was put back in the same area where I uncovered it right after the photograph was taken.  A large mound of leaves was scattered back out over the turtle to provide the coverage it sought in the first place.  I figure that I can always go back and clean that spot after the little tyke grows a bit and goes on its merry way.  Hopefully, the turtle will survive and learn that this crazy old lady meant it no harm.  Perhaps, it will decide the yard is a pretty nice place to live.