The less adaptable turtles can only be kept as close to nature as possible with the knowledge of nature as a model.

On 448 pages in this unique book the habitat and the way of life of the European tortoises in the wild during the course of the year are described and documented in detail with 1490 pictures. The pictures were taken over many years during my travels to all European countries with natural turtle populations.

First, the individual species of European tortoises and their distribution are briefly presented and their current secondary habitats, macchia and garrigue, are described. It also shows in detail how turtles feed themselves over the course of the year, how they deal with poisonous plants and how their lime requirement is regulated. The phenomenon of heat islands is discussed, which make up the special quality of this habitat, make reproductive success and the survival of the next generations possible in the first place, and thus have a decisive influence on population development. How the turtles use the microclimate of these heat islands, what distances they cover and where they live within the heat islands will be discussed in detail in further chapters on action space, roaming area and shelter. This is followed by a chapter on population density and its influence on turtle behavior.

The following chapters show the course of the year for turtles in the wild: In spring, turtles can and must take advantage of the abundant food available. But it is also accompanied by the males' commentary fights, by mating rituals and finally by the laying of eggs. All activities are described in detail and documented with many pictures. Summer begins for the turtles in their natural habitats as early as the end of May. Now the precipitation is decreasing and the heat is increasing sharply. In many places there is now a lack of food and water. It describes how the turtles now behave and what stimuli and mechanisms the turtles are equipped with by nature in order to survive the arid summer in the hot heat islands. Their fluid requirements are also discussed and the conditions under which the eggs develop during this time are shown. In autumn the behavior of the turtles changes again and the hatching season begins. This is documented with many unique images and the predators that are now appearing are also discussed. The migration of the young animals from the egg-laying places to the surrounding heat islands is crucial for the maintenance of a population and for its dynamism, which is why a separate chapter is included here. The turtle year ends with winter. Here the wintering of the turtles in the wild is described.

In a detailed special chapter, the European turtles and pond turtles as well as the ringed turtles, which are now also native to the south, are presented and their habitats and way of life in the wild are described using pictures.

In the chapter Role Model Nature Special, the course of a turtle day is presented, the aspects of light, heat and UV radiation are discussed in greater detail and the microclimate in the heat islands, which is very different from the surrounding area, is discussed. Turtles are often confronted with bush or wildfires, which is why a separate chapter deals with this. Further chapters illuminate the regeneration of injuries, the hump growth that now also occurs in nature, the relocation or reintroduction of turtles and the tick problem.

Turtles are and will remain wild animals, even if we have bred them for generations. Unlike domestic animals, turtles are in no way able to adapt to the ways we are forced to live. Anyone who takes turtles into their care must know this and offer their foster animals as close to nature as possible and therefore species-appropriate. With us, this can certainly only be a compromise. So that you are able to find this compromise for yourself and above all for the benefit of your turtles, I give you and all interested nature lovers with my new, very extensively illustrated work, a comprehensive insight into the original world of all land and water dwellers Species of turtles in the European Mediterranean.  

Turtles were shaped in an almost unimaginable period of around 230 million years in special areas with a very special microclimate. In these habitats, the turtles were able to withstand all dangers and develop special mechanisms and survival strategies that can only be found in a few other prehistoric animals.

The creeping change in the original habitats began 10,000 years ago when humans began to settle down in order to farm and raise livestock. For 70 years now, arable farming in the Mediterranean has been so intensively and extensively that three harvests a year are standard today. Whole swaths of land are covered with greenhouses to allow more harvests.

Today there is hardly a turtle habitat in the entire Mediterranean region that has not been shaped by humans in some way at some point.

Fortunately, in some countries there are still individual, even very large, contiguous areas that lie fallow and are again overgrown by the primeval macchia or at least by their secondary vegetation, the wild scrub of today's macchia and garrigue. This is where the turtle populations that live in heat islands can still live out their natural needs today. It is only in these habitats, which have been restored to their original form, that knowledge about the primeval turtles and their way of life can be gained and implemented for a close-to-nature attitude under the guiding principle of “nature as a model”.

Turtles are often referred to as living fossils. We should be aware of our great responsibility and do everything we can to preserve these valuable, oldest terrestrial vertebrates in their natural environment for as long as possible.

I would like to recommend this book to everyone who loves turtles. The less adaptable turtles can only be kept as close to nature as possible with the knowledge of nature as a model.

After reading this book you will surely understand one or the other characteristic of your turtle better and you will see some behavior with different eyes.

Now I wish you a lot of fun reading and looking at the pictures and all turtle keepers always enjoy their pets.