Turtle Power

About two months ago we had a lot of rain.  When I arrived home in the afternoon, the standing water was from the road all the way to the awning of the RV.

Good thing I had rubber boots in the car.

We had more rain over the next few days.

One day while driving home, I saw a large turtle (tortoise?) on the side of the road, and I pulled over and scooped him up.  I had a nice-sized cardboard box in the car, because apparently I have become my mother, who used her car for extra storage.  I currently have a box of saltines in my car.  You know, just in case a saltine shortage breaks out, or I need to leave a trail of saltine crumbs in the forest like Hansel and Gretel.

I took Mr./Ms. Turtle/Tortoise home and had a little photo shoot before the release.

Then I set her down in the grass, and she refused to budge.

So I took her inside the fence and put her into the wading pool to spend the night.

I took her to a low grassy area near the swamp and let her go.  I would like to report that she turned gratefully to me and waved goodbye, but she did not.

It occurs to me that the excessive rains displaced her.  Most of the time when there’s a turtle on the road, they are intent on heading north and it’s springtime.  This one was sitting on the side of the road facing south, just sitting still.  She made no effort to get away from me.  Dazed and confused, I suppose.

I haven’t seen her back on the road, so I suppose that’s as good an ending as this story will get.

I have no clue what kind of turtle she is.  I found a really good site where you check off what the physical characteristics are on the list, and then click “search”, and the site returns the possible choices.  I have either discovered an unnamed creature, or I don’t understand the choices.  Hard or leathery shell.  Flat or rounded shell.  How many scutes.  Coloring.  Neck stripes.

Clearly, the solution is that I have discovered a rare beast.

Tags: Turtle