Michael found him on the lane in front of our house. He's an Eastern box turtle (and by he I mean the turtle). The red eyes let us know that he is a he (again, talking about the turtle here). We (this time referring to Michael and me and maybe even T though she somehow missed the entire Mr. Turtle episode) were hoping we could add him to our pond but it turns out that box turtles can't live in ponds so we (see previous note) have put that plan on hold.
6 comments:
Nice. We have two Russian tortoises which live in a terrarium in our house (and have been with us for about 8 years). This turtle looks a lot like them.
The best thing to do is put him back outside about 20-50 feet across the lane in the direction he was heading. Eastern box turtles are in serious decline, in part because people remove them from the wild, which is illegal in most states. They are not pets, and therefore nothing like Russian tortoises.
The good news is, when you release him, he will have the opportunity to continue to breed. You will more than likely see him from time to time, and have a better chance of seeing more turtles in the future.
To read more see:
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/neparc/products/BoxTurtle.htm
Very cute.
Two thoughts...
1. Good time to read 'There's a Hair in my Dirt' by Gary Larson.
2. Turtles (and other herps) can sometimes carry salmonella, so after touching, hand-washing is a very good idea. =)
Karen
Tej: Our theory that Bob the Box turtle is in fact an Eastern box turtle is based solely on matching up what we could see of him with pictures and descriptions on the web. Now I have to look up Russian tortoise to see if there is another contender.
Tantra: After bringing Bob in for me to see him, we took him right back outside and he happily trundled his way off into parts unknown.
KayBee: Michael explained about not touching Bob's skin because I could transmit evil warm-blooded bacteria to Bob, but Michael forgot to mention about the evil bacteria that Bob could give to me.
Also, I feel it should be mentioned....Cool turtle, doods!
What has not been said, is that Michal found the turtle playing on the road where he could be killed, so Michael set him "up" in the woods around their house. He never thought of making him a household pet. I think I got that information correct. CSS
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