I am Terrapene carolina carolina, Common Eastern Box Turtle Vincenzo of Shepherdstown. To my friends, I am just Vincenzo or Boxie. I do not know my age. I know that I was born in a wooded place and that I left to meet other boxies on the banks of a stream. A few days ago, a monster grabbed, cracked my shell and hurt me so badly my hind legs stopped moving. I am better now, but I need to ask your help making life a little easier for my fellow boxies. You think I am being maudlin? You think the only tragedies are earthquakes and tsunamis? Hello! I am part a long, long chain that stretches all the away around the green earth. Neglect me and my fellow boxies at your own peril 'cause when we go you will start neglecting something else and that will go too until only you are left. Will you muss us then?Listen, you can see how indifference led our world to disasters we could have avoided. Global warming is an example of that. You think it is hot this summer? It will get hotter. Do you think that worrying about that kind of stuff is the job of tree huggers? Are you too cool to care? I hope not. We are in this together. The green earth is shrinking. Species are vanishing. The world's water supply is getting lower. You think it is bad that the oil supply has peaked? Try living without water. These are things we would rather not think about,k I know. What should I do, sit here glugging Fiji water? Listen to this,"Plastic water bottles produced for U.S. consumption take 1.5 million barrels of oil per year, according to a 2007 resolution passed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That much energy could power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year, according to the resolution." Scared yet? No need to be. Just do your bit. Get a water filter. Plant a garden, even if is a little one. Folks can grow all sorts of things in containers. Add a touch of green to the world.If you have a garden, think of making it into a wildlife habitat, plant it with native plants. Ask the authorities in your town to preserve green spaces. Ask them to create wildlife sanctuaries. Offer to help. Give talks, show movies, organize. Choose to be remembered as one who added to the riches of the earth. When you do that, I can stop venting. You think this is easy for me? You think I like haranguing folks? I don't. But for me and my crew, it is a matter of life and death. So, will you support me when I ask the mayor to put up signs asking drivers to look out for boxies? Will you help me ask him to share the money the town has budgeted for streetscape? We can use an underground boxie crossing. We are getting slaughtered without it. There. I've had my say. Will you help? Please?
Vincenzo of Shepherdstown
My Favorite Links:
Cool read : http://www.dispatchesfromthevanishingworld.com/
Good and green http://www.wildlifefederation.org/
Email: savetheboxies@gmail.com
