Leatherback Sea Turtle by Folkmanis

available at http://www.cowandlizard.com/product/leatherback-seaturtle-hand-puppet

FACTS OF INTEREST

• the leatherback is the world’s largest turtle
• the leatherback gets its name from itssoft shell made of thick leathery connective tissue over a network of bone.  It is the only turtle without a hard shell
• leatherbacks can weigh up to 2000 pounds but begin life at 2 ounces or less as they emerge from clutches of 100 or so eggs burried in beach sand
• leatherbacks are widely distributed in the world’s oceans, evenextending to the Arctic Circle.  Feeding mainly on jellyfish, individuals have been tracked by scientists on journeys as long as 12,000 miles

ON TURTLE’S BACK

Long ago, Great Spirit looked down from her home in the sky and wanted to make land.  But what to make it from?  There was only the vast ocean.  Then she saw a giant turtle in the water, big as an island.  She had forgotten about sea turtle, created so long ago.  “Turtle” she called “gather your six brothers together”.  It took seven days for the turtle to find them all.  Then Great Spirit called down again “turtles line up head to tail, north to south.  Yes thats it.  Now stay very still.  You are going to have the honor of carrying land where people will dwell on your backs”  Great Spirit took earth and rushes from the sky, she let the turtles’ backs be mountains, she moved them apart just a little to create rivers and lakes. And thats how California was made.  All is well for the most part.  Sometimes the turtle brothers quarrel.  Then the ground rumbles, the trees quiver and cracks open up in the earth until the brothers make peace again.

    -a folktale of the Gabrielino Indiand