are going to head out, get out of your hair. It’s dinnertime. Do you, by chance, have the number for the pizza place?”
“Take-out menu is in the folder on top of the cabinet over there.”
“Great.” Morgan crossed the room. “I really appreciate your patience and understanding. With Lilly, I mean. I had no idea she was going to become so fixated on the turtles, but—”
Gabe looked up, his smile soft and clearly filled with affection. “The turtles can use all the attention they can get. She’s welcome here.”
“I—thanks. That means a lot. I don’t always know what to do with . . . well, everything, when it comes to taking care of her. But this is the first thing I’ve seen her take a real shine to, since . . .”
“I’m happy and touched the turtles mean something to her,” Gabe filled in when Morgan trailed off.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but I don’t want her to worry about them. About losing them, I mean. I’ll keep her away from the ones that are in need of more . . . intensive care. I just—she doesn’t need more loss.”
“I understand. There are plenty here who will be just fine, if not perfect, when we release them. If you would like to be involved with that, we can get her following the few who are closest to that stage.”
“They don’t need to be perfect, just preferably not dying. In fact, she’s taken a shine to the big guy back there. She calls him—”
“Paddlefoot.” Gabe smiled. “So, I heard. He’ll be with us a good while longer, but he’s doing well.”
“Sounds like a good fit then.”
“He’ll be released eventually,” Gabe warned.
“Hopefully, by then, she’ll understand that’s a good thing for him. Do you do the releases here?”
Gabe nodded. “Right off the beach.”
“Well, maybe we can be involved in some other releases before he goes, so she understands how it works, what’s in store for the turtles, and why it’s good they get to go home again.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
“I also showed her the egg nest. I thought it might intrigue her, or at the very least, be a distraction. She’s very concerned about them.”
“So are we, to be honest,” Gabe said. “It’s late in the season for a nest to hatch. Not unheard of, but it’s not as usual this far north. There’s only the one nest left.”
“It’s been pretty warm this fall.”
Gabe nodded. “But it still cools off quite a bit at night, and temperatures could become less moderate at any moment. If it gets too cold, the eggs stop incubating. We’ve been testing the temps in the sand, and keeping an eye on them. The mother picked a good location high up on the beach, not at risk for flooding, and we haven’t had any big storms or heavy rains, so we staked it out, fenced it from predators, and we’ll let it go as it goes.”
“Do you know how many are in there?”
“We inspected the nest early on. One hundred sixteen eggs by our count.”
“Wow. What percentage do you think will make it?“
“It’s anyone’s guess, but the sooner they hatch, the better chance we have of getting as high a percentage as possible.”
“Could you dig them up, hatch them inside?”
“Not here. They should hatch in the next two weeks, so we think it will go as well as can be expected.”
“Will you be out there? Or monitoring it in some way?”
“We have a camera mounted under the pavilion awning closest to the nest. It’s still a bit of a distance, but we’d see the surface disturbance enough to know they’re coming out.”
Morgan entered the pizza place’s number into his phone and put the folder back. “How well will they do once they come out? I mean, do you think they’ll mostly make it?”
“Their chances of making it to adulthood are rough, but if we’re lucky enough to be there when they hatch, we can do our best to keep the other creatures away, and at least help them to the water. The crabs and birds won’t be a threat at night. We
“Take-out menu is in the folder on top of the cabinet over there.”
“Great.” Morgan crossed the room. “I really appreciate your patience and understanding. With Lilly, I mean. I had no idea she was going to become so fixated on the turtles, but—”
Gabe looked up, his smile soft and clearly filled with affection. “The turtles can use all the attention they can get. She’s welcome here.”
“I—thanks. That means a lot. I don’t always know what to do with . . . well, everything, when it comes to taking care of her. But this is the first thing I’ve seen her take a real shine to, since . . .”
“I’m happy and touched the turtles mean something to her,” Gabe filled in when Morgan trailed off.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but I don’t want her to worry about them. About losing them, I mean. I’ll keep her away from the ones that are in need of more . . . intensive care. I just—she doesn’t need more loss.”
“I understand. There are plenty here who will be just fine, if not perfect, when we release them. If you would like to be involved with that, we can get her following the few who are closest to that stage.”
“They don’t need to be perfect, just preferably not dying. In fact, she’s taken a shine to the big guy back there. She calls him—”
“Paddlefoot.” Gabe smiled. “So, I heard. He’ll be with us a good while longer, but he’s doing well.”
“Sounds like a good fit then.”
“He’ll be released eventually,” Gabe warned.
“Hopefully, by then, she’ll understand that’s a good thing for him. Do you do the releases here?”
Gabe nodded. “Right off the beach.”
“Well, maybe we can be involved in some other releases before he goes, so she understands how it works, what’s in store for the turtles, and why it’s good they get to go home again.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
“I also showed her the egg nest. I thought it might intrigue her, or at the very least, be a distraction. She’s very concerned about them.”
“So are we, to be honest,” Gabe said. “It’s late in the season for a nest to hatch. Not unheard of, but it’s not as usual this far north. There’s only the one nest left.”
“It’s been pretty warm this fall.”
Gabe nodded. “But it still cools off quite a bit at night, and temperatures could become less moderate at any moment. If it gets too cold, the eggs stop incubating. We’ve been testing the temps in the sand, and keeping an eye on them. The mother picked a good location high up on the beach, not at risk for flooding, and we haven’t had any big storms or heavy rains, so we staked it out, fenced it from predators, and we’ll let it go as it goes.”
“Do you know how many are in there?”
“We inspected the nest early on. One hundred sixteen eggs by our count.”
“Wow. What percentage do you think will make it?“
“It’s anyone’s guess, but the sooner they hatch, the better chance we have of getting as high a percentage as possible.”
“Could you dig them up, hatch them inside?”
“Not here. They should hatch in the next two weeks, so we think it will go as well as can be expected.”
“Will you be out there? Or monitoring it in some way?”
“We have a camera mounted under the pavilion awning closest to the nest. It’s still a bit of a distance, but we’d see the surface disturbance enough to know they’re coming out.”
Morgan entered the pizza place’s number into his phone and put the folder back. “How well will they do once they come out? I mean, do you think they’ll mostly make it?”
“Their chances of making it to adulthood are rough, but if we’re lucky enough to be there when they hatch, we can do our best to keep the other creatures away, and at least help them to the water. The crabs and birds won’t be a threat at night. We
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