Turtle Day

[dreamshark]

Yesterday I took a little midday bike ride around the nature paths and drainage ponds of lovely Shakopee and found a little painted turtle crossing the bike path from one slough to another. I took her home to Richard, who always seems a trifle forlorn without some livestock to care for. I must admit, he didn't seem quite as enthusiastic as I'd hoped when I called and asked him to prepare an aquarium on short notice ("But I have flowers to plant!"). But sure enough, when I got home there was a pretty little tank set up and waiting for a turtle occupant, with a basking platform at one end and some random foliage floating at the other end to provide a feeling of shelter.

Bucky, as I'd taken to calling her, was delighted to get back in the water after a few hours in a cardboard box. So far she's shown no interest in the basking platform and has spent all her time floating under the leaves with just her nose sticking up or scrabbling at the puzzling glass walls. She didn't seem at all interested in food. I'm not sure if she was too excited to eat or just wasn't hungry. How often do turtles eat, anyway?

She's a very lively turtle with high self-esteem. Anyway, not one of those shy turtles that cowers in her shell. She pulled in and hid for maybe 5 minutes after I picked her up, but by the time I got back to the QLogic building she was craning her neck to look around and trying to climb out of my hand. She was very active in the cardboard box, too. I picked her up and talked to her frequently and she didn't seem the least bit scared or aggressive. But if somebody unfamiliar held her she seemed to detect the difference immediately, and pulled back into her shell for a few seconds to think about it. I don't know how they do it, but turtles do seem to distinguish between one person and another. I would have expected that we all look alike to them, but we saw similar behavior with the other pet turtles we've had in the past.

I don't know if we'll keep her or not - it depends on how well she adjusts. At the moment she's in a relatively small tank sitting by the fountain in the back yard. It just seems like she'd be better off outside where she can get some actual sunshine. We don't have a lot of large predators in the city, unless raccoons are a danger. Anyway, she made it through the night.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Happy Turtle Day!

I saw a baby painted turtle at Lake Harriet a few weeks ago, but didn't have possession of it (some guy did) and he put it down by the water.

Perhaps Richard would enjoy the excitement of hermit crabs. We certainly get a lot of fun out of ours. Except when they bury themselves for months on end, of course.

K.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'd worry about raccoons, and even dogs and cats getting at her if the aquarium is open-topped. (Not to mention that some kids don't mind cutting through other people's property. Maybe not in your neighborhood, but she might be safer indoors.)

I'll look forward to meeting her!

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We don't have loose dogs or children in our neighborhood, but within about 20 minutes we had at least one cat peering in at the turtle with great interest. The screen top with a rock on top was enough to stymie a cat, but I'm a little concerned about raccoons. We'll probably have to come up with something better or move her indoors.