May 2021
Turtle Day at The Lakes Care Centre
The Lakes Care Centre in South Cerney celebrated Turtle Day on Sunday 23rd May.
To celebrate Turtle Day the residents have been learning about Turtles, have been colouring and decorating some Turtle pictures and looking over Turtle word searches and puzzles.
The first thing we talked about was the differences between Turtles and Tortoises, people often get them mixed up, but they are not the same thing, though this day is dedicated to celebrating and protecting both.
So, what is the difference between turtles and tortoises? Although they are both reptiles, the main difference between the two is that turtles live in the water at least some of the time, while tortoises live on the land. Because they live in the water, turtles have streamlined and mostly flat shells, while tortoises often have larger and more domed ones.
Turtle Day was first created in 1990 by American Tortoise Rescue, World Turtle day recognizes that some species of our hard (and soft!) shelled friends are suffering and almost on the edge of extinction due to environmental hazards, issues with hunting and harvesting of their eggs.
Everyone at The Lakes Care Centre enjoyed finding out more about Turtles and some of the residents have even seen baby Sea Turtles hatch and make their journey to the sea whilst they have been away on holiday.