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Join Geneva Area Turtle and Tortoise Society

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Geneva Area Turtle and Tortoise Society's free guided tour of PRT on July 7

Jul 7
Sat 2:00 PM
Location
Protection et Récupération des Tortues (PRT)
Grand Pâquier,
CH 1373 Chavornay, just south of
Orbe
0041 24 441 8646, Info@tortue.ch
Who attended?
The organizer estimated that  18  people attended.
5.0
Who organized?

Today our club members and their guests will get a private guided tour of all the facilities at Protection et Récupération des Tortues (PRT). This extensive turtle and tortoise rescue organization is the largest of its kind in Europe. It houses hundreds of these reptiles outdoors in ponds and enclosures, and indoors in large aquariums and terrariums. We'll see many species of chelonians, ranging from tiny desert tortoises to giant snapping turtles. The center's resident director, the biologist, and the friendly staff of knowledgeable volunteers will give us reliable advice in French or English on the feeding, housing, breeding, hibernation, and health care of each species.

PRT is located between Chavornay and Orbe, north of Morges and Crissier. Our turtle society's events are normally held in the Geneva area, but PRT is more than an hour's drive away. Club leaders Suzanne and Peter are members of PRT, and have driven to the sanctuary many times. Those who want to carpool there will be meeting in the leaders' home in Nyon at 2 p.m. in order to carpool in just a few cars to drive together to PRT. Click on our web site's Files section at http://turtles.meetup... to download road maps and travel directions, either to Suzanne and Peter's home, or directly to PRT if you'd prefer to drive there on your own. You can print the set of maps and travel directions for your drive. Everyone should arrive at PRT at about 3 p.m., when the private guided tour will begin.

PRT is a non-profit sanctuary founded in 1994. The organization receives from Swiss authorities any turtles or tortoises confiscated at customs offices, or siezed from owners who kept them in unhealthy conditions. The sanctuary also accepts unwanted pet turtles and tortoises (for a donation to PRT) and houses them under ideal conditions.

At the end of our visit today, Swiss residents can adopt an aquatic turtle from PRT. Red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) of any size cost just 30 CHF, and other aquatic turtles cost up to 250 CHF. You must agree to donate an additional 15 CHF per year for as long as the turtle lives. You can also donate to PRT 25 CHF a year to sponsor a particular species there, or CHF 50 a year to sponsor an individual turtle or tortoise. In return you'll receive a personalized card with a photo of the species or individual you sponsor. You can also become a member of PRT, a worthy organization to support.

This private guided tour is a repeat of the tour the club was given on July 15 last year. Fourteen club members and visitors attended that event, and many asked that the trip be repeated this year. You can read the remarks nine of them put on the club's web site after that tour at http://turtles.meetup.... We always encourage those who attend our events to reply to the Meetup organization's e-mailed request for a remark after each event. It helps the club's leaders determine what kind of activities the members like and dislike.

Full details of this year's July 7 trip to PRT are at our web site's description of the tour at http://turtles.meetup.... The sanctuary has to know how many club people to expect for this tour, scheduled exclusively for our club. Be sure to submit your RSVP at the right side of the screen by checking Yes, Maybe, or No to indicate if you plan to attend. You can bring the family, and invite friends, neighbors and children who might enjoy this excursion. Just be sure to indicate in your RSVP how many guests you're bringing along, and add any remark in the Comment box. If your plans change, please return to this page to revise your RSVP. If you can't attend this event, you'll find more meetings listed in our Calendar section at http://turtles.meetup.... Click on each meeting's title to read the details, then submit your RSVP on the same page.

Other pages of our web site include lots of information for soft-hearted people fond of hard-shelled pets. The Photos section at http://turtles.meetup... displays hundreds of identification pictures of turtles, tortoises, and hatchlings. The Messages section at http://turtles.meetup... features club members' questions, answers, informative articles, and other messages. The Members section at http://turtles.meetup... describes the turtles, tortoises, and other interests of the 50 current members of the club. The Files section at http://turtles.meetup... has more articles, plus the maps and directions to all our events. Enjoy.

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Who attended?

    • “ We didn't get lost (we appreciate the detailed travel directions in the web site's Files pages), but it still took us an hour to drive to PRT. But it was worth the trip, because we spent hours there learning all about turtles and tortoises. ”
    • “ I was one of the visitors who joined PRT during the tour. Everyone who loves turtles and tortoises should support this organization. ”
    • “ This is the best animal rescue center we've ever seen--and it specializes in only turtles and tortoises! The director, biologist and volunteer staff have done a marvelous job in creating good enironments for all their charges. ”
    • “ We found this place so fascinating! We'll be back with the neighbors' children. ”
    • “ This guided tour was even better than last year's. Let's go again. ”
    • “ We must have seen dozens of tortoises and scores of turtles here. They were displayed in rather sterile surroundings (unlike the tortoises and turtles in Suzanne and Peter's beautiful garden), but I guess that's necessary in an educational institution like PRT. ”
    • “ We came in our own car, but then realized we should have car-pooled with other club members so that we could talk about turtles all the way over and all the way back. We hope PRT will schedule another private guided tour for the club next year, and that everyone will car-pool to go there. ”
    • “ PRT may not be as extensive as France's Le Village des Tortues in Confaron, where the club went last year, but we didn't have to drive half a day to get there. Sharing the short drive to PRT was fun for everyone in our car. ”
    • “ The kids we brought were fascinated by the giant snapping turtle. That's the only one they didn't try to touch. ”
    • Suzanne and Peter (+1 guest)
      “ This private tour of PRT was even more informative than the tour our club was granted last year. Director Jean-Marc Ducotterd gave us a history of the rescue center, originally founded to discourage owners of red-eared sliders from releasing these prolific turtles into natural ponds in Switzerland. The Director keeps hundreds of turtles and tortoises in his home, and we saw the hundreds housed at PRT, so he knows more about these fascinating reptiles than any of us do. He picked up individual specimens to point out specific features, such as the deformities created when they're not given the proper diet or accomodations. PRT receives half its funding from dues paid by its members, the other half coming from donations. Several of our club members joined PRT, or donated cash to sponsor a turtle or tortoise there. Eighteen unpaid volunteers come to PRT every two weeks to maintain and clean the many aquariums, ponds and enclosures. This shelter is a worthy cause we should all support. ”
    • “ PRT's director might be the only person in Switzerland who knows more about turtles and tortoises than Peter. He answered every question we asked, and gave good advice about the care and feeding of our box turtle. ”
    • “ Every event scheduled by Suzanne and Peter is different from the ones before. This private tour of PRT was "differenter" than all the others. We missed last year's tour (we joined the club just recently), but hope we'll get another tour of PRT next year. ”
    • “ One wouldn't describe turtles or tortoises as "cute," normally reserving that adjective for puppies or kittens. But some of the ones we saw there were certainly cute; others looked fearsome; some were even beautiful. We got a new respect for the wide variety of these reptiles on this guided tour. ”
    • “ Suzanne and Peter's collection of turtles and tortoises seems to increase every time we visit their garden. How soon before it becomes another PRT? ”
    • Hanne and Emily (+1 guest)
    • Peter Solomon (+2 guests)
    • Mary Picard (+1 guest)
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