Hideki's Yuruyuru Nagisahoki/ep3 -Natural Sensation Eyes-

Hideki Sato

2019/11/28

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text and edit by: Hideki Sato

Things to think about after a typhoon passes

* After the passage of Typhoon No. 19, the beach (upper right) of the usual walking course was divided by muddy water and could not be crossed (2019.10.13)

"Tenkou Mahi Yuru Autumn"... Hideki is accumulating body fat for the winter, with a cool appetite.
The body, which has been shaped up for the summer, is back to normal this season, and this repeats every year (sweat)

It started with a self-deprecating story, but the word “Tenkou Mahi Yuru Autumn” is often quoted with such a nuance. It is said that the word originally comes from a Chinese legend that says, "When the horses are fattening season, enemies will attack you, so be careful!" In the winter, the horse-riding tribe "Kyodo", who live in a land where it is extremely cold and food is scarce, rides on horses that have gained strength by eating a lot of grass that grows thick in the spring and summer, and harvests for winter food and autumn harvest. It seems that the etymology is derived from the Chinese word "Akitaka Saimahi", which warns against coming to steal.

I believe that there are no equestrian tribes that attack Japan in the fall, but in recent years, many people remember that natural disasters such as large typhoons and heavy rains have caused enormous damage in various places. I think it's new too.
(We sincerely pray for the earliest possible recovery of the affected areas.)

From the beginning of nomlog, we have been talking mainly about drifting objects, and in episode 3, episode 3 of Yuruyuru Nagisahoki, I would like to start with a story slightly related to this natural disaster.

4 turtles

Suddenly, we have four turtles in our house.

*Since the two little ones are still worried about living together with their older turtles, they usually live in separate tanks.

Surprisingly, all four of these children are "drifting & washed ashore" found during the usual beach walk!

It was a few days after heavy rain and a typhoon passed that I met all four of them. The last child who came to our house (lower right in the photo above) seems to have been swept away by the rising water of the Sagami River caused by Typhoon No. 19 at the beginning.

At the time of discovery, all the cubs were baby turtles that seemed to have just been born in the same year. I guess. I knew that if left alone, they would either be washed away into the sea and die, or they would become prey for black kites and crows, so I decided to protect them at home. After all, I love living creatures and was on the breeding committee for all six years of elementary school.

1st turtle

The first time I met one was two years ago in May 2017, when I rescued a little turtle the size of a 500-yen coin from a swollen estuary due to heavy rain. After I brought him home, I noticed that he was missing his left hind leg. It was a place in front of the ocean, so if she had been washed away, her life would not have been so long.
I want you to live long and strong even with three legs "Sanku Kotobuki (Thanks)” was named. Currently, he survived two winter hibernations and is living well.

* Thanks at the time of discovery, which was the size of a 500 yen coin. Oddly enough, it's the same size as the gacha figure I had at home (on the right in the photo)!

2nd turtle

The second was 1 year and 5 months later, after the typhoon in October 2018. I found it upside down on the estuary embankment and unable to move. Since it was discovered inside out, "Urara” was named. When I name something, my usual planning brain kicks in and thinks of some kind of meaning.

*Urara was upside down as shown in the photo on the right when it was discovered. It wasn't moving, so I thought, "Are you dead?"

mysterious behavior

When I brought Urara home and put her in the same tank as the grown-up Thankus.
I was worried that the little Urara might be bullied, but on the contrary, I was more scared of the big-bodied Thankus (laughs). Probably because it didn't. At first, Thanks was timidly watching from a distance behind Urara. Although he was puzzled by the unknown creature, he gradually got used to it, and after a while, he began to take strange actions that he had never seen before.

*Thanks was terrified at first, but as he got used to Urara's existence, he began to act mysteriously!

While quietly approaching Urara, it stretched both front legs straight in front of it and repeatedly stroked Urara with its long claws, which are characteristic of males. "Thanks, what the hell did you start doing? Did you get scared and freaked out?"

So, when I googled it, it was a courtship behavior peculiar to green turtles. To suddenly propose to a turtle (who is still a young girl!) whom I have never met (Kamesei?) in my life, I thought, "Don't do it, thanks!" Even now, a year later. I love you ♡ The koshokosho continues, but Urara literally kicks Thanks and doesn't care about it at all (laughs). bottom.

3rd & 4th turtles

The third one was a few days after the heavy rain in May 2019, and the fourth one was after Typhoon No. 19, which hit the Kanto region in October of the same year, as I mentioned earlier. The names of the two animals are tentatively called "Mei" and "Octo" after the moon they were discovered. It is tentative because it is unidentified and lacks decisive factors for naming.

*The Mei found in May was probably just born, and its shell is still soft (left).

Ryugu Castle?

After heavy rains and typhoons that increase the force and volume of rivers, I have seen not only baby turtles washed away alive, but also many turtles and other creatures that ended up on the beach with their corpses. There must have been many creatures that lost their lives in the ocean. It seems that not only humans are affected by natural disasters, but also creatures living in the natural world.

People often joke, "When the turtles grow up, they'll take you to Ryugu Castle to repay the favor." (Chuck!)

All of the baby turtles protected by our home are freshwater turtles of the North American species known as the Red-eared Slider, commonly called "green turtles". Alien species should not be allowed to live in Japan's natural environment, but since it is out of the scope of this blog, I will not discuss the issue of alien species here.
It is life that came to me by fate. As a foster parent, I would like to take care of these turtles until they grow up.
*The Red-eared Slider is not designated as a "Specified Alien Species". We have confirmed that there are no particular problems with bringing home or breeding.

I love aquariums♡

As a former Ikimono clerk (I am also a current ikimono clerk), I always want to create a good environment where they can live happily without stress. At times like that, I remember my favorite facility, the "Aquarium".

From my childhood to the present day, the aquarium has always been my number one favorite facility.
Of course, the design I graduated from at university majoring in architecture was an aquarium. I entered this industry because I liked creating spaces and making things, and because I thought I might be able to get involved in aquarium work someday.

you can dive in the sea

Also, I have been scuba diving for over 30 years because I want to see the real ocean where fish live.
I have traveled the seas in Japan and overseas. I would like to take up the stories in the sea and introduce them in this nomlog someday, along with the underwater photos I took.

*The longed-for whale shark that I finally met at the drop-off in Ari Atoll, Maldives

*Feel happy surrounded by a flock of barracudas at Palau's famous Point Blue Corner

Towards “creating an aquarium”

Thanks to all of you, I have little ability, but I am currently working in the field of exhibition planning, which plays a role in the creation of various aquariums and fisheries museums in various places, making use of the know-how and experience of field activities that I have cultivated so far. It is possible.

This is my personal opinion, but what I want to cherish in aquarium exhibits is not the unusual way of presentation or the provision of core information itself, but the moment when you can touch the lively appearance of fish and the ecology that is close to the natural environment. , I think that it is an opportunity to realize the splendor. If you go underwater in the natural world, you will have many opportunities to come into contact with them, but not everyone can go to the fields where living things live, such as in the sea or rivers.

The people who come closest to and understand the fish and aquatic creatures displayed in aquariums are the keepers who take care of them on a daily basis.
Putting myself in that position, I take care of the lives of living creatures and take care of them while setting up a rearing environment with the feeling of living creatures. These days, I hope that the awareness of each of these experiences will lead to the future as an element that lives on in the exhibition planning of aquariums that are lively and attractive.

From now on, I will continue to be an exhibitor who can help environmental museums such as wonderful aquarium experiences. I would like to always have an eye that can sense and infer something from nature and living things through my work.

In the next "Yuruyuru Nagisahoki", I'm planning to introduce various things I found while walking along the coast, so please look forward to it!

*In addition to turtles, our “Ikimono clerk” also takes care of goldfish.