The miracle of life came to fruition early last week at the Jan Wilkowski residence.
She lives one block west of Lake Yuma. It was in June that she saw a large turtle planting her eggs in a nearby yard. She submitted a picture to the Pioneer, which ran it in a June edition. Wilkowski said she expected to have a turtle coming out party in 60 to 90 days.
Well it turns out that blessed moment occurred on Labor Day, September 5. Wilkowski said it was 76 days after the eggs were planted. She took five to the lake, and found a couple that did not make it. She added she did not know how many hatched.
There was at least a sixth successful hatching — or at least were here at Pioneer Headquarters suspect as much. It was last Tuesday morning, September 6, when the staff found a baby turtle on the floor near the desks. The Pioneer’s back door is about 1 block northwest of Wilkowski’s house. It is suspected the Pioneer’s shop cat “Press” found it out back and carried it into the office.
The staff was not even sure it was alive, but Jake took it down to the lake, slapped some lake water on it, and suddenly the baby turtle went for a brisk swim. Jake took a video of the special moment, and the little guy seemed right at home at the lake.
The Pioneer was puzzled by there being a baby turtle anywhere near the office, then remembered about the eggs near Wilkowski’s residence. She was contacted and confirmed the eggs had hatched the previous day. Apparently, the one that ended up at Pioneer Headquarters headed the wrong direction after hatching, but it had a happy ending.
