The following are photos of a very old pair of turtles that have inhabited the front lawn of the estate I have worked at in Palm Beach for the past 20 years. But they are much older than that.
These large turtles--about 3 feet long each--had spent many years in Austria at the palace of Archduchess Maria Theresa (the mother of Marie Antoinette) in the 1700s. But I have been told that they originally are of Chinese origin. If you look, you can see a striking resemblance the the Asian turtle Heosemys grandis which was likely the model for them. This first photo was taken looking north from behind the female. The hurricane shutters in the background are kept on the house all summer while the Boss is away. They come off next week...
Here she is closer up...
Please excuse my yellowish grass. The ocean has been rough for a couple of weeks and the onshore winds carry salt which tends to stress it out. Under normal circumstances it is emerald green.
This shot is looking south taken from behind the male...
A closeup of the male. The similarity to Heosemys is pretty obvious...
This last photo shows how close they are to the beach. Again, looking southeast from behind the male...
They are quite priceless and so when I cut the grass or doing anything around them extreme caution is needed. I have always thought is was neat that my employer decided to bring them here and place them right out in the lawn were they can get plenty of excercise and fresh air.
These large turtles--about 3 feet long each--had spent many years in Austria at the palace of Archduchess Maria Theresa (the mother of Marie Antoinette) in the 1700s. But I have been told that they originally are of Chinese origin. If you look, you can see a striking resemblance the the Asian turtle Heosemys grandis which was likely the model for them. This first photo was taken looking north from behind the female. The hurricane shutters in the background are kept on the house all summer while the Boss is away. They come off next week...
Here she is closer up...
Please excuse my yellowish grass. The ocean has been rough for a couple of weeks and the onshore winds carry salt which tends to stress it out. Under normal circumstances it is emerald green.
This shot is looking south taken from behind the male...
A closeup of the male. The similarity to Heosemys is pretty obvious...
This last photo shows how close they are to the beach. Again, looking southeast from behind the male...
They are quite priceless and so when I cut the grass or doing anything around them extreme caution is needed. I have always thought is was neat that my employer decided to bring them here and place them right out in the lawn were they can get plenty of excercise and fresh air.
