To Save a Turtle

Once upon a time, when I was young, we had a turtle as a pet. It lived in an area of the backyard, and we fed it vegetables, and I rather enjoyed it. It was much better than the rabbit we had for a time, which would writhe and scratch us every time we tried to pick it up.

My senior year of college, I was reintroduced to turtles, as my friend and roommate had two adorable turtles. She also had a bunny, which was much cuter and more peaceful than the bunny we had as a child. But I digress.

So, I have a soft spot in my heart for turtles. On the way home from work this week, we saw a turtle trying to cross a four-lane road near our apartment complex. It had just started the trek, and did not appear it would make it all the way across the street in the midst of rush-hour traffic. I sped into action! Josh had an extra box in the car, and pulled over into a side-street. I hopped out and, when traffic cleared, I snatched the turtle from peril! It was a very exciting rescue.

The turtle was none too happy about being in a box in the car, and immediately peed in it. Can you get incontinence supplies for turtles? I thereafter removed the box from my lap and set it in the backseat. I asked Josh if we could keep the turtle as a pet, but this was a large turtle, and would probably need to live in our bathtub, and would probably NOT be very happy there, so in the best interest of the turtle, I decided to let him free near the ponds in our apartment complex. I set him down and he took off- there was nothing "slow and steady" about his gait. Before I let him go, however, I snapped some pictures to remember the experience.



And that's my turtle story for today.