Page 11 - Amazing Creations Volume One

Amazing Creations 9

Richard Gunther

In Australia, in some stagnant
ponds and pools ( called
billabongs) you will find pig­
nosed turtles.
In summer, as the pools dry up,
the female turtles climb above
the waterline, up the banks and
dig holes in the sandy soil.
There they lay about 12 eggs.

After about 10 weeks the rainy season begins, and the baby
turtles hatch out and head for water.

If the rains don't come, the baby turtles sink into a kind of suspended
animation, hardly breathing, and wait.
As soon as the rain finally arrives, they speed up their metabolism and
hatch out.
If they did not do this, they might find no water in the pool, and so die.

How do the baby turtles know what to do if the rains come?
How do they know what to do if the rains DON'T come?

Painted turtles of Canada have another way of avoiding death.
If they sense the approach of winter, they remain in their eggs
and hibernate.
The parents too, hibernate.
They have a natural
anti-freeze in their blood to

prevent ice-damage.
How did these turtles come
to have these life-saving
abilities?

The God who made them
gave them the wisdom.