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- Nov 7, 2012
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This obit was written for and published in the Tortuga Gazette. I have followed that with some additional information. The point to this post is to make an internet 'forever' record of Harold's spectacular accomplishment, and to survey who may be in this same category of breeder.
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Mr. Roger Gephardt, a USFWS warden for the central valley, first introduced Harold Carty to me. I had occasion to speak with Mr. Gephardt about my interest in chelonians, and he suggested that Harold would be a good person to get to know. Harold sent me a price list shortly after an initial phone call, and I purchased two three-striped mud turtles, which he delivered to me in Fresno, about a 40-minute drive south from his farm in Chowchilla. “Turtle Breeders, Harold and Naoma Carty, No visits allowed, please don’t ask†was at the top of the price list. I hoped for an invitation to the farm, I was in college at the time, and had little money to spend on turtles. Harold was frequently willing to spend a great deal of time with me on the phone to talk about our mutual interest, but no invitation for a visit was forthcoming.
It seemed that Harold had a long time interest in wildlife of all sorts, he had traveled to central and south America, and extensively in the US. He was a competitive free diver (no tanks of air) and spear fishermen. Harold quickly learned that the big competition-winning fish were often in the deepest water, in and among large rocks or sunken logs. It was during these dives that Harold found many turtles as well, and as his appreciation for wildlife moved to captives, he included turtles. This could be considered a natural progression of interest for many of us, but with Harold, it was even more ingrained as he ran a dairy farm, and animal husbandry was his livelihood.
Harold displayed in aquarium club events, and sought to exhibit large tanks with beautiful fish as many did, but he also included turtles, invertebrates and other likely aquatic fauna and flora from the fish’s habitat. These large naturalistic aquaria won many prizes, as these were major cutting edge innovations for captive animal display and husbandry during the 60’s and 70’s. As laws changed, exotic and baby turtles were less and less available, so Harold started to turn his attention to breeding turtles in stock ponds and tanks at his farm. Then in the 80’s when dairy farmers were ‘over producing’ milk our government bought out many herds, Harold retired from the dairy business and focused his extensive husbandry skills on farming turtles and tortoises.
Naturally I still wanted to see the place where all this excitement went on, but having met Harold through a wildlife law enforcement officer and hearing from other people with similar visit interests suggest that it would be unlikely that Harold would allow such a chance, I let the idea go. Through a fortunate event, a meeting of the Sacramento Turtle and Tortoise Club, that both Harold and I wanted to attend, brought me that chance to visit his farm. Aside from the delivery of turtles to Fresno, I had not spent time with Harold in person. The several hours’ drive went so fast with conversation. I always felt welcome to speak with him on the phone, but after the trip to Sacramento, I felt we connected like two long separated brothers.
Many turtles their-selves, when considered among other reptiles, are gentle, unassuming and humble creatures. Similarly, Harold had these characteristics when considered among other people, and perhaps was sometimes misinterpreted, as turtles are. His nature was both confident and kind. He could interpret animal behavior as well as it can be done. This was in part due to the hours spent in the wild looking at turtles as well as watching them at his farm. Many visits to Harold’s farm lead to interesting conversations concerning the natural history of turtles, and what makes them tick. Harold’s first turtle experience, which he fondly recalled in conversation with me, was as a young boy, finding western pond turtles in the LA River, now a concrete drainage route. Many successes with chelonians in captivity are attributable to knowledge we have garnered from Harold. However, more so, his appreciation for wild turtles and tortoises was an even greater influence on me.
I have saved many price lists of Harold and Naoma’s annual offerings and from these it is easy to see that they breed over 100 taxa, at least a few from every continent where chelonians occur, but mostly north American species. Several additional taxa were often pre-sold, so they never made it to his price lists. Many zoos, classrooms and homes all over the world house turtles breed by Harold. Scientific studies of physiology and anatomy, taxonomy and systematics, ecology and natural history all benefited from visits to Harold’s farm, and the turtles he bred and sold. Harold’s knowledge of chelonians as wild animals and captives rarely made it to press directly from his pen, however much of his knowledge is represented in many scientific and hobbyist writings through others who would spend many hours on the phone with the original Turtle Breeder.
William H. Espenshade III
**************
These are the further comments, not in the Tortuga Gazette.
I no longer have these saved price lists, to bad for posterity and all, but good for me as I have moved many times and that box of price lists got annoying. Harold passed in November of 2003.
So how many species did Harold breed? I don't have an exact number, he may have kept one in his mind but he never mentioned it to me. He did breed EVERY native species in the United States except chicken turtles and sonoran mud turtles. He bred all know and a few unknown sliders. He bred all the European Testudo. He bred many of the Mexican mud and both central American musk turtles, but not the narrow-bridged. He bred many Phyrnops before that genus was split into many. He bred the helmeted mud and many pelusious. He bred red and yellow foot, Leopards and sulcata (they did not pyramid either). He bred aquatic box turtles and a few other Mexican box turtles species. He bred several types of Aussie side necks, Chelodina and Emydura, as well as a few from the region but not Aussie. Harold was not so big on seeking Asian animals, but those few he had some of were also bred.
The only species he offered for sale from his list that he did not breed himself was Podoc. u. The other side of that coin, is that many many dealers across the US offered chelonians that Harold bred, and just increased the price by some margin. Larry Lantz was the most prolific at selling chelonians bred at "turtle breeders"
So a few cryptic taxa have been designated new since Harold's last years breeding from US natives, but that at least starts the count at 50+. His total is a bit over 100. I know there are more specie-ous collections and I know a few people breed thousands of a few species. That is not the count here. The count here is most species bred, by an individual.
So that makes the math simple to start at 50 species. I know a few others here in the US that meet that marker, and their efforts are not parallel to Harold's,
All of Harold's efforts were as a private individual. I've bred Dermatemys mawi in a zoo (I was the primary keeper, zoo successes are never the result of one person), so that would not count for my own total, see what I mean by 'as a private individual'?
Will
*************
Mr. Roger Gephardt, a USFWS warden for the central valley, first introduced Harold Carty to me. I had occasion to speak with Mr. Gephardt about my interest in chelonians, and he suggested that Harold would be a good person to get to know. Harold sent me a price list shortly after an initial phone call, and I purchased two three-striped mud turtles, which he delivered to me in Fresno, about a 40-minute drive south from his farm in Chowchilla. “Turtle Breeders, Harold and Naoma Carty, No visits allowed, please don’t ask†was at the top of the price list. I hoped for an invitation to the farm, I was in college at the time, and had little money to spend on turtles. Harold was frequently willing to spend a great deal of time with me on the phone to talk about our mutual interest, but no invitation for a visit was forthcoming.
It seemed that Harold had a long time interest in wildlife of all sorts, he had traveled to central and south America, and extensively in the US. He was a competitive free diver (no tanks of air) and spear fishermen. Harold quickly learned that the big competition-winning fish were often in the deepest water, in and among large rocks or sunken logs. It was during these dives that Harold found many turtles as well, and as his appreciation for wildlife moved to captives, he included turtles. This could be considered a natural progression of interest for many of us, but with Harold, it was even more ingrained as he ran a dairy farm, and animal husbandry was his livelihood.
Harold displayed in aquarium club events, and sought to exhibit large tanks with beautiful fish as many did, but he also included turtles, invertebrates and other likely aquatic fauna and flora from the fish’s habitat. These large naturalistic aquaria won many prizes, as these were major cutting edge innovations for captive animal display and husbandry during the 60’s and 70’s. As laws changed, exotic and baby turtles were less and less available, so Harold started to turn his attention to breeding turtles in stock ponds and tanks at his farm. Then in the 80’s when dairy farmers were ‘over producing’ milk our government bought out many herds, Harold retired from the dairy business and focused his extensive husbandry skills on farming turtles and tortoises.
Naturally I still wanted to see the place where all this excitement went on, but having met Harold through a wildlife law enforcement officer and hearing from other people with similar visit interests suggest that it would be unlikely that Harold would allow such a chance, I let the idea go. Through a fortunate event, a meeting of the Sacramento Turtle and Tortoise Club, that both Harold and I wanted to attend, brought me that chance to visit his farm. Aside from the delivery of turtles to Fresno, I had not spent time with Harold in person. The several hours’ drive went so fast with conversation. I always felt welcome to speak with him on the phone, but after the trip to Sacramento, I felt we connected like two long separated brothers.
Many turtles their-selves, when considered among other reptiles, are gentle, unassuming and humble creatures. Similarly, Harold had these characteristics when considered among other people, and perhaps was sometimes misinterpreted, as turtles are. His nature was both confident and kind. He could interpret animal behavior as well as it can be done. This was in part due to the hours spent in the wild looking at turtles as well as watching them at his farm. Many visits to Harold’s farm lead to interesting conversations concerning the natural history of turtles, and what makes them tick. Harold’s first turtle experience, which he fondly recalled in conversation with me, was as a young boy, finding western pond turtles in the LA River, now a concrete drainage route. Many successes with chelonians in captivity are attributable to knowledge we have garnered from Harold. However, more so, his appreciation for wild turtles and tortoises was an even greater influence on me.
I have saved many price lists of Harold and Naoma’s annual offerings and from these it is easy to see that they breed over 100 taxa, at least a few from every continent where chelonians occur, but mostly north American species. Several additional taxa were often pre-sold, so they never made it to his price lists. Many zoos, classrooms and homes all over the world house turtles breed by Harold. Scientific studies of physiology and anatomy, taxonomy and systematics, ecology and natural history all benefited from visits to Harold’s farm, and the turtles he bred and sold. Harold’s knowledge of chelonians as wild animals and captives rarely made it to press directly from his pen, however much of his knowledge is represented in many scientific and hobbyist writings through others who would spend many hours on the phone with the original Turtle Breeder.
William H. Espenshade III
**************
These are the further comments, not in the Tortuga Gazette.
I no longer have these saved price lists, to bad for posterity and all, but good for me as I have moved many times and that box of price lists got annoying. Harold passed in November of 2003.
So how many species did Harold breed? I don't have an exact number, he may have kept one in his mind but he never mentioned it to me. He did breed EVERY native species in the United States except chicken turtles and sonoran mud turtles. He bred all know and a few unknown sliders. He bred all the European Testudo. He bred many of the Mexican mud and both central American musk turtles, but not the narrow-bridged. He bred many Phyrnops before that genus was split into many. He bred the helmeted mud and many pelusious. He bred red and yellow foot, Leopards and sulcata (they did not pyramid either). He bred aquatic box turtles and a few other Mexican box turtles species. He bred several types of Aussie side necks, Chelodina and Emydura, as well as a few from the region but not Aussie. Harold was not so big on seeking Asian animals, but those few he had some of were also bred.
The only species he offered for sale from his list that he did not breed himself was Podoc. u. The other side of that coin, is that many many dealers across the US offered chelonians that Harold bred, and just increased the price by some margin. Larry Lantz was the most prolific at selling chelonians bred at "turtle breeders"
So a few cryptic taxa have been designated new since Harold's last years breeding from US natives, but that at least starts the count at 50+. His total is a bit over 100. I know there are more specie-ous collections and I know a few people breed thousands of a few species. That is not the count here. The count here is most species bred, by an individual.
So that makes the math simple to start at 50 species. I know a few others here in the US that meet that marker, and their efforts are not parallel to Harold's,
All of Harold's efforts were as a private individual. I've bred Dermatemys mawi in a zoo (I was the primary keeper, zoo successes are never the result of one person), so that would not count for my own total, see what I mean by 'as a private individual'?
Will