Home Owners Outside Austin Rescue Displaced Slider Turtles  Demonstrating their commitment to living in harmony with the natural environment, home owners in Barton Creek West, — a quiet, family-oriented community of 398 homes nestled in the southwest hills of Austin, TX — came to the rescue of more than 200 red-eared slider turtles and several other wildlife species who were displaced when a multi-million gallon retention pond was drained in order to replace its liner. When home owners began to spot turtles of all sizes, blackened with sludge, wandering aimlessly through their subdivision in search of water, their home owners association and its management company assembled a team to pick up stray turtles and return them to the wild. Turtles were rescued by the tubful, hosed off and released one-by-one from the banks of Barton Creek, which runs through the more than 400 acres of greenbelt owned and protected by the home owners association. Baby turtles were especially fun to watch being released as they darted to the bottom of the cool-water creek and then resurfaced, members of the rescue team reported. | 
