Two SLAC-kers have birthdays in the same week, so for the last couple of years, they’ve wanted to celebrate together. This year they asked Viviana for another turtle survey. As always, she delivered.

 

Measuring a red-eared slider.

 

Getting accurate notes.

 

 

 

Collecting data on a softshell turtle.

We didn’t catch any softshells at the last turtle survey, so we were happy to see this one.

 

 

 

Baby softshell!

 

 

 

We caught two common snapping turtles, just like at the last Spring Lake turtle survey. Because we mark them, we knew these were different from the two we caught last time. Fun fact: Turtles have homes. They may travel up to four or five miles to nest, but they have a home lake, pond, or stream to which they return. These two, and the other two we caught earlier, like our little pond enough to stay here. We believe we have five snapping turtles and we were falsely told that that was too many and that we needed to “get rid” of some before Viviana and Carl properly educated us.  We learned a lake will support the appropriate number of turtles. Our lake is capable of supporting five of these baby dinosaurs. And, no, they don’t eat all our fish.

 

This is how we weigh a snapping turtle. We like to think the turtle was saying “Look at me! I’m flying!”

 

This one has some interesting pitting on its shell.

 

The girls are always thrilled to see Carl. It was an extra birthday gift for them to get to work alongside him.

 

 

 

They were thrilled to see Andrew Brinker too (you’ll remember Andrew from the Trinity River Turtle surveys the girls attend).

Here are Carl and Andrew measuring a very large softshell turtle. It’s not record-breaking size, but it’s definitely the largest we’ve found on Spring Lake.

 

The kids loved seeing these professional turtlers stage a photo shoot.

 

 

 

Then we had to do a photoshoot with the humans, too. 😉

 

 

 

Remember that this was the birthday party two SLAC-kers requested. No party hats, no favors—just a few friends, some adults they respect, and snapping turtles on the guest list.

The after party was just as much fun! The Spring Lake Adventure Club wanted to find a way to honor the person they’ve grown to love and the person from whom they’ve learned so much. Viviana Ricardez Perkins puts the adventure in the Spring Lake Adventure Club, and we don’t know what we’d do without her.

They presented her with the grandest award ribbon imaginable, which was made especially for her. It features a tortoise medallion, the printed words “Spring Lake Adventure Club Champion,” and it named her Mentor of the Year for 2018. And it featured two of her favorite colors—purple and green.

 

Then the girls gave Viviana a hand-made Craker (one of three custom creations from SLAC friend Amy Jones). You can see the girls with their crocheted Craker here.

 

Then, the pièce de résistance: a large turtle necklace for Viviana and three smaller matching necklaces for the girls. All made with love by a SLAC-ker.

 

A couple of weeks before the party, the girls caught Craker (again). Unfortunately, they didn’t have calipers or scales, so they weren’t able to get any new data on her. So they made sure she appeared okay and then released her back into the lake. We’re all starting to suspect that Craker kinda likes being caught.

After the survey, and after Viviana’s special presentation, the two birthday girls opened some presents—calipers and scales. They will be prepared the next time they catch her.