I love turtles and tortoises, they don't cough, slurp, smack or bark. They have a simple beauty that I adore.
A few years ago my mom decided to get me a turtle. The only problem was that it was a red eared slider. I started reading up on these things and I found out that some have salmonella. For normal people this wouldn't be a problem.....Have I told you that I am a hypochondriac? Needless to say I scratched that idea and decided to buy a baby tortoise which I named Toby. I only had him a few months. The fucker wouldn't play and decided he was going to sleep all day and only come out at night. This really pissed me off! So I gave him to one of my son's lizard loving friends.
On Sunday, I am driving with a friend and I spot a huge turtle on the road. Yes, the one in the pic above. I think SCORE, if this thing can handle cars zooming by then he isn't a shy one and we will become fast friends. I get out of the car to grab him and he is huge, but before doing so I put on gloves cause yes he is a salmonella carrier. I pick him up and tons of water starts coming out of his shell. I am grossed out and I'm convinced he is pissing everywhere. I later learn it was water. I put him in the floor board but of course I am not putting any of my body parts anywhere near this thing. This is where I have to laugh because yes I do love the animal, truly this shouldn't be that hard.
I get him home and I am very happy to have a little backyard friend. Well that lasted 2 days. Because on Tuesday I went outside to the shock of a hole in my fence, no turtle and my neighbors very happy dog. We retrieved Toby and luckily he wasn't hurt. I decided I had caused him enough pain and took him to a very nice river/park in my town. Yes I did the right thing but now once again I am turtleless and back on the hunt for my next turtle adventure.
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6 comments:
Happy hunting. :)
Only you, I swear you could turn a story about a mud puddle in to a best seller!
We used to have a yard turtle when I was a kid. He was actually a "recycled" turtle. My dad got him from somewhere, I don't know where, and he had a stripe of pink nail polish on the edge of one side of his shell. He always got out of the yard somehow, and for a long time, the neighbors would return him if they found him, because they recognized him by his pink mark. Eventually, we didn't get him back. =(
I'm impressed by the fact that you had gloves available for handling any stray turtle you might happen upon. :)
g-man- I don't know why that comments seems smirky. But I have a feeling you might be a turtle flipper. Say it's not so!
Ken- Your Awesome! Flattery gets you everywhere.
Heather- The first thing I thought when I read this! I am so paiting a pink spot on my new turtle, when I find him.
Big Pissy- Cracking me up. I was in my friends truck and instantly I was looking for something to grab ie, a towel. Then my friend said np their are gloves in the glovebox. I was like WTF. And they were plastic gloves. I didn't even ask.!
For the record, I am not. Just a smartass.
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