Summer is a knockin’ on the door, 21 days of spring left. What can I see on a walk around the village?

Behind the chain-link fence of the Babylon High School soccer field, a large turtle caught my attention. It was a red-eared slider. It had a pile of wet mud behind it whereas the rest of the soil was dry and hard. I investigated. The turtle was trying to lay eggs. I picked it up and I discovered a shallow hole confirming that this was a female, digging a nest to lay her eggs. I concluded that this was a futile undertaking and decided to take the turtle to the Carl’s River close by.

I released the reptile between the two bridges on Railroad Avenue. It swam away immediately. The Cincinnati gorilla story has me thinking. Releasing this turtle so it has a better chance of laying her eggs is a small act that flies in the face of killing a wild animal in a zoo when it belongs in the jungle. The incident has me shaken up. Why zoos in the first place. There’s enough to see right around your community. If you take the time to look.

As I circled around Argyle Lake, I found sunfish nests along the edge. The fish had cleared away algae using strong body undulations. The male stayed on the nest and chased away any trespassers.

There are over a hundred mute swans, way too many for a balanced ecology of the lake. I stopped to watch another sunfish saga as runners, walkers, and dogs and baby carriages passed by. This is the zoo that they are bypassing. No exotic wild animals, just swans, cormorants and sunfish.

I found a small patch of forget me not flowers. These charming little floers were not in a zoo but right out here where people can stop and look. I passed the alewife fish ladder and came to a large clump of an island with yellow iris flowers. This clump of earth and plants was carried here during the ten inch rainfall event we had here two years ago. Two feet of water flowed over Montauk Highway. The torrent of water plucked this island from a bank and deposited it here.

As far as zoos are concerned, having a live endangered animal and keeping it alive is an awesome responsibility. I enjoyed my walk around the Babylon Village zoo today.