PERCH PLEA PUTS FOCUS ON EOLA’S TURTLES
Club: Add sunbathing spots at lake
Lake Eola surely would tick off Yertle the Turtle, a character in a Dr. Seuss children’s story.
There is hardly any place in Orlando’s showcase lake where Yertle could order others of his kind to stack themselves in a column, which, as the story goes, Yertle would climb as king of his pond.
According to the real-life Turtle and Tortoise Club of Florida, there is precious little space at Lake Eola for any sort of perching by turtles, fabled or otherwise.
And that’s not good, say club members, who are petitioning for installation of artificial perch places.
“I don’t want to have any conflict with parks and rec on this,” said Marvin Bennett Jr., an Orlando resident and vice president of the turtle club, who stressed a desire to avoid friction even as he has reached out to city hall often.
“Putting basking platforms in Lake Eola would greatly benefit turtles,” Bennett said.
His club has collected more than 500 signatures in support of the cause, with 300 of those dur-
ing the Earth Day celebration at Lake Eola last month.
This city’s response this week amounted to: thanks, but we’ve got this.
“The turtles are doing fine,” city park manager John Perrone said.
A variety of turtles are visible on sunny days in the 28-acre lake in the heart of Orlando. There are native red belly and peninsula cooter turtles, exotic redeared sliders and enormous softshell turtles.
Bennett, who has ponds at his home where he raises turtles, couldn’t disagree more with the city’s contention.
He is the author of “Turtles, Tortoises and People, A Turtle Conservation and Care Book.” In it are dozens of his own color illustrations of the reptiles.
Bennett said basking promotes absorption of calcium for bones and shells. Sunlight also helps them shed fuzzy algae off their backs.
But while Bennett’s perspective is mostly about turtle welfare, the city views a larger concern.
At Eola, there is an assortment of fish, dozens of swans from foreign places, ducks, rats, pigeons, squirrels and a lot of animal poop to be cleaned off sidewalks early each morning.
Also experienced at Eola are 3.5 million visits by people each year.
Managing such a crowd at Lake Eola Park is enough of a challenge and wildlife isn’t going to get much special attention, according to city officials.
“We don’t run it as a zoo,” Perrone said.
As nature goes, Lake Eola is a mess.
Its wetlands were obliterated by sea wall along much of its 4,493 feet of shore.
Most of its water is rain that arrives via gutters with soda straws and lawn fertilizer.
The lake is dyed bluegreen to block sunlight from stimulating algae growth.
Eola ranked last year near the bottom – at 72 of 94 – for healthiness among Orlando lakes.
As much a retention basin as lake, it doesn’t drain into a stream.
Excess water pours down deep wells to the Floridan Aquifer, a practice common in the city.
Yet Eola is appreciated for swans, skyline reflections, schools of little fish and the signature fountain.
“I think it looks nice,” said Amy Chafey of Phoenix, who was with her husband, Brian, and their daughter for a Central Florida cheerleading competition this week when they took their first look at Eola.
Bennett said turtles strongly prefer perches in open water and away from predators.
Perrone pointed to gnarly cypress roots and knees as potential perches.
“Would you want to sit on that?” said Bennett, who marvels that turtles survive in Eola.
The single piece of prime real estate for perching is the upper side of a drainpipe that juts through the sea wall.
The scene there is of turtles doing as Yertle the Turtle would encourage: piling upon one another.
They don’t succeed very well. When a turtle is able to claw up and into the scrum, another turtle usually is bumped back into Eola.
The spectacle often draws sightseers, taking pictures and, to Bennett’s dismay, tossing unhealthy snacks of bread crumbs.
Bennett said if the city installed artificial perches, they quickly would become popular teaching moments about nature – in an intensely urban place.
Standing above the drainpipe, Orlando resident Rosely Batista, 25, watched the turtles with delight.
“I think they are cute but I think they need more space to get out of the water,” Batista said.