Writings to Our Mother I | Page 5

time to get to know them. Do we honour the wisdom of these living dinosaurs through our actions? Nope! Of the eight turtles native to Ontario seven of them are listed as species at risk. Only the Painted Turtle remains off the list and experts believe that the only reason for this is because there is a lack of study of the species. There are many factors causing the decline of turtles in Ontario: habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, road and boat mortality, and being hunted for food and poached to supply the pet trade – all by-products of a corrupted interpretation of progress. In the relatively short-time our species has existed, we have not failed at leaving our mark. Witnessing so many formidable changes during this time, our knowledge is still at best only a small fraction in comparison to the transformations experienced by these wetland-dwelling elders. Instead of paying attention to such lessons we assume the role of the driving force behind our planet’s sixth extinction crisis by blatantly disregarding the perilous consequences of disconnecting from the natural world. Foolishly we continue to obliterate our nonhuman neighbours at an unprecedented pace; squandering our future for the sake of a few dollars more. I understand that we all need to make a living. What I do no Ёչ