The Mission

Paco knew two things in his short life: his name was Paco and he had to get to the water.

Paco had just fought his way out of the soft covering, biting and flailing to escape its hold on him. All around him, others just like him were also pushing and biting and kicking to escape their velvety prisons. But getting out was just the first step to Paco’s mission.

He and the others like him, 50 of his siblings, were now challenged with digging their way out of the bowl of sand where they had laid for the past several weeks. He was being kicked in the face by the others and had sand thrown into his mouth. He couldn’t stop to complain or take it personally. The mission to escape was more important than anything else. Paco kicked and bit and flailed and crawled bit by bit until he was free of the others and out of the sand pit.

Now, the easy part was finished and it was time to take on the real life-or-death challenge. It didn’t seem fair to Paco that he should have to fight so hard for every breath and movement being just a few minutes old. Technically, he was just a baby. Sure, the struggle out of the nest worked all his muscles and made him strong for the next phase, but c’mon!

As Paco took a moment to rest on the beach, he noticed his surroundings. The sun was shining over a perfectly blue lagoon; huge pink and orange flowers blossomed all around and created a heavenly scent. Green leaves created shady areas that looked cool and refreshing. Then he saw her.

A small fox was crouched beneath the shadowy leaves: hiding and watching. Her delicate nose was sorting out the scents of the flora from the smell of the little ones that had just hatched. Her mother had been training her for this day: they had been watching the slight mound of sand and seaweed on the beach for several days. The mother turtle may have thought she hid the eggs well, but the fox and her mother were very good at sniffing them out.

Her eyes grew big as the young fox watched the sand begin to shift and churn, and then baby sea turtles began to emerge. Her fluffy red tail twitched excitedly as the first turtles emerged from the clutch. She knew that the hatchlings would have soft shells and tender meat. She hadn’t eaten for three days and she began to salivate. This would be a feast for the young fox. But she had to wait – the turtle exodus was just beginning. If she struck too soon, she would attract other predators and lose all those hatchlings. Her mother signaled to wait.

Most of the turtles had now escaped from the eggshell-and-sand pit. A few couldn’t get out; they would perish. Paco was glad he was one of the first ones out, but he knew that it was only the start of this battle. The time for looking at the paradise of this beach was over. It was time to run.

Using his flippers and his tail, Paco began moving as quickly as he could toward the water of the clear lagoon. His 45 remaining siblings were also racing toward the water. Paco was frustrated because he was not built for speed on land. At this point, he was about the middle of the pack, which made him more vulnerable than those ahead of him. Fortunately, he was one of the larger members of the clutch, which gave him a little speed advantage but would it be enough?

The fox waited for the optimal moment. If she waited until they were too close to the water, the tide might come in and carry them away. When the hatchlings were halfway between the pit and the water, she made her move. She kept low to the ground and quickly slunk toward the turtles. She ignored the ones still in the nest – they would still be there when she returned. She crept up to the turtles in the rear of the group and – snap! – bit down on a tasty turtle. But as she bit, the turtle let out a small scream, warning the other siblings of foxes’ presence.

The turtles tried to run faster. Paco’s heart pumped in panicked desperation. He could see the water but it was still a long way in the distance. Paco also knew that the scream from one of his siblings would attract other predators, like birds. Time was short. If Paco were to live, he had to get to the water now!

The young fox continued to eat her way through the slower turtles. They were so delicious. She glanced up to the sky and saw some seagulls circling the area. She knew they would be attracted to the sight of her muted-red body on the white sands of the pristine beach. She would have competition in a few moments. Her mother was a few paces behind her, letting her get the first pick of the bunch; in a moment the older fox would join the feast.

THWAK!

******

Anna’s third grade class had been learning about sea turtles in class. They had a huge one, Rogerio who was over 100 years old, visit her class. He was magnificent, with a wise face and an enormous beautiful shell. Anna was delighted by this classroom visitor.

Her teacher told the class that sea turtles were endangered for a variety of reasons, but every one that made it to the ocean after hatching provided new hope for the species. “But,” said the teacher, “you should never touch a baby turtle struggling to get to the ocean. It needs to use its muscles so it can swim. You can’t just pick one up and put it in the water. If you try, the turtle will most likely drown.”

Anna had developed her plan very carefully. She practiced using her sling-shot with small bean bags to hit targets at various distances. She contacted the Park Service to know when the baby turtles would be expected to hatch. She got her father’s permission to miss school on the days most likely for the hatchlings to run to the ocean.

This was her second day of watching. She hid in the shadows of the leaves and flowers, ready with her sling-shot and twenty small cloth bags filled with sand. Her father was working on his laptop just over the hill behind her.

The nest began wiggling and churning. Anna began to see baby turtles emerge from the nest after fighting with sand and siblings.

So far so good.

When the majority of the turtles had made it out of the pit and were ready to run to the ocean in their turtley sort of run, Anna saw the small fox begin to creep out from the bushes, followed by a larger fox. As the small fox got closer to the hatchlings, Anna carefully aimed her sling-shot loaded with a sand bag, and released. She missed completely. In the time it took her to reload and re-aim, the fox had made it to the back of the group and had bitten down on one of the turtles. The tiny turtle let out a tiny scream before the fox devoured it. Anna took aim once again, breathed deeply, then released.

THWAK!

The small fox felt a stinging pain in her left hind leg. She yelped and fell. The turtle nearest her mouth scurried away. The pain in her leg was immense.

THWAK!

A small explosion of sand erupted near the young fox’s head. Anna had aimed a shot to frighten the fox away. The fox, her hind leg still aching, limped back to the cover of the beautiful flowers with her tail low and sweeping the sand. She whimpered for her mother and licked the sore spot.

THWAK!

Anna hit the larger fox between the shoulders and it stopped creeping up on the turtles. The mother fox retreated back to the observation area.

THWAK!

Paco heard one of the circling seagulls squawk in complaint as a sandbag hit its chest. That seemed to be enough to scare off the birds for the time being.

As Paco reached the water’s edge, he turned to see why the birds had flown away and why he had not heard more of his siblings die in the mouth of a predator. He saw a human child, holding a forked stick, watching him. Their eyes met and they each nodded. For just a moment, they acknowledged each of them had completed their mission: now he and dozens of his siblings were safely in the water. Anna smiled and waved at the baby turtles as the tide began sweeping them away.