Turtles move slowly: a welcome relief after small birds. They even sit still sometimes, giving a neophyte time to focus.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but they seem to do better in the water.
It must be tricky when you can’t breathe your preferred medium.
Takes me back to my pet turtle “Dinky” (whoever let me name him that??) I always yearned for pets in my childhood, and with my asthmatic mother, my choices were somewhat limited. Dinky was a great pet, and actually lasted quite a while in his limited water dish, complete with island and plastic palm tree.
Alison – Who would have stopped you from naming your own turtle? I mean, I ask you. I wonder whether some day our kids will say of us – Yes, she lasted quite a while! But it’s hard to see what other commendation one can give a turtle.
My sister once had two turtles who hibernated behind the refrigerator. She lives in the desert so they must have been tortoises. Anyway, they didn’t stay once summer came and “…ran away,” she said, “or, rather, walked away.”
Barbara – Yes, slow and steady, not to say majestic, in some cases.
Have you started a turtle collection now ? They are another thing that is great to collect (turtle images I mean, not the real thing)
You can check off photographing Mexican Red-eared sliders (a good start) and move on (in your spare time ☺ ) to local ones (painted, snapping, map, and the rarer blanding) all available at Mud Lake or Petrie Island.
Jim – I guess I have by accident, as it were – but not officially until this very moment! Thanks!
I remember how fragile the hold on life of those little denizens of the plastic pool with its non-sheltering palm. An amorphous guilt still stalks me. The instructions that came with them never sufficed. The commendation is to Alison, or to Alison’s mom. Kudos!
Laurna – Someone told me years later that many of them starved to death – not for lack of food but for lack of heat. If they didn’t have an extra source of heat, like a light bulb over their wee pool, I guess they couldn’t get the food value out of the food.
It’s always something, isn’t it?
Barbara – I guess some folks Knew, but many Did Not. Moral of the story: If you find yourself being held captive by large creatures, hope that they are the knowledgeable sort. That, and never trust pet shop owners to tell you what you need to know.