Thursday, August 19, 2010

LOOK WHO VISITED US!!!




















One fine morning a few days back, this little guy walked right into our garden!!!
We found him on the threshold of the Dog-kennel. (Why the place that Daddy keeps his gardening tools and fertilizers called a Dog-Kennel we could never understand. Such infringement of copyright, we think!)

Anyway, there was this little guy, blissfully basking in the long wished for early morning sunlight. He smelled of fish, had rather inquisitive eyes and seemed to be contemplating the world around him.
We had never seen something like him before and were tremendously fascinated!

Our animated and curious barks soon brought Daddy out into the garden from the bedroom where he was desperately trying to wake Mummy up from a state of comatose slumber, which is a daily routine on ALL WORKING DAYS!
We soon learned it is a tortoise.

A Tortoise? By now, our little friend had withdrawn into his shell and looked rather like a large rock. We pawed at him and shoved him with our noses but he stayed put.
We raced inside to inform Mummy who was still tossing and turning and trying to cut out the noise from all our activity with her pillow.

A Tortoise in our garden? Couldn’t you pawple find a better excuse to drag me out of bed?’ she complained.
But then she opened her eyes and saw the excited looks on all three faces crowded around her bed!!!
Could they be serious now’, she wondered.

But truly and honestly there he was, our little tortoise now once again risking his neck out into the world.
Instantly, in true ‘Mummy-fashion’, Mummy pulled us away, terrified that it might snap at our noses if it could gather enough courage.

GROAN!’
Mummy Was awake!

We realised we knew nothing about tortoises. And there wasn’t enough time to google about him because Mummy and Daddy had to leave for work soon.
An animated discussion ensued to decide the further course of action. We couldn’t possibly keep him as a pet, he seemed like a free- bird…err…tortoise to have walked and survived the busy streets and for all we know, might be in the middle of THE Race!
(Those of you who are not familiar with the legend of the famous aforementioned race must click HERE!)
We couldn’t let him loose in the streets either, he was more likely to be squashed under the tyres of some unsuspecting car. He looked like a rock at most times, if you remember.
So we finally decided to drive him down to a place we thought he will be relatively safe in and be able to enjoy nature.
Mummy suggested a shoe-box as his temporary car seat and off we went looking for a home for him.
There was however, one little problem. We hadn’t reached a consensus about whether he was a preferably land or aquatic life form.

There is this little stream, a little away from home, with thick vegetation on its banks. Though it is by the busy highway, it is at an incline. Our little tortoise seemed rather the adventurous type, but we decided even he wasn’t likely to attempt acrobatics of that magnitude and risk his life!

So terra-firma by the stream-side it was to be for him.
Daddy was pretty confident he will take his pick of the green leaves or the myriad life-forms in the little stream and will not go hungry. So we found a clearing big enough for him under the bushes, hid him, said our final goodbyes and headed home.

We just hope he wasn’t really in the middle of any Race!

Wags,
,



Pee Ess: We did google about out tortoise that night. He is supposedly a land-turtle, a reptile who lays eggs and hatches them on ground unlike an amphibian who lays eggs in water. He survives on green leaves and vegetables and is preferentially a herbivore. Proteins such as from insects and fish can cause his shell to grow weak.
So we did fine with our choice of habitat for him. That is reassuring.

23 comments:

3 doxies said...

Oooooh, I want a turtle! I found a turtle in our yard once BUT, mum wouldn't let me keeps him.
They kinda neat little creatures though.

Puddles

Maggie Mae and Max said...

Aww,

A most interesting find indeed! I am happy youz tooks good care of hims and set him free.

Woofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae

jabblog said...

They are funny creatures, aren't they? I hope he will be safe now and stop wandering around. I'm sure he'd say thank you if he could :-)

Two Pitties in the City said...

What a fun visitor! I had a pet turtle (my parents still have him--we've had him 26 years!) and our dogs are always fascinated by him. They can actually run quite fast.

Molly the Airedale said...

We met a turtle once! She was laying eggs and when she was all done, she headed back to the brook and the small pond. We don't see too many land turtles here but we see lots of pond turtles!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

houndstooth said...

I have a feeling Mom and Dad wouldn't let us keep a turtle or a tortoise. It's a bit unfair! We can't have a rabbit, either!

I'm glad you found a good place for him since you couldn't keep him!

Bunny

Lola and also Franklin, too said...

That is quite exciting. It's probably good that you helped him find a suitable location. I've known a few giant tortoises. Not out in nature or in the yard, but at the rescue shelter I was in. They had free run of the public part of the place, which was in Brooklyn, NY and quite small. That was different...

lotsa licks, Lola

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Thankss fur watching out for T.Turtle -

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra and Khousin Merdie

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

HELLO!!!! I've spent some time catching up on your blog--See, you're not the only one who gets behind, and I really enjoyed all your news and your pictures! Sorry I missed the birthday part, but I'm glad I got here in time to see the turtle set free! :-)) We have some that wander into our yard (they are land turtles or terapins) and I always let the dogs see them--They are always so puzzled about just what they are.

It was good to visit your blog, and I promise I'll do better about keeping up! Take care!! :-)

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Hey, TD wonders if that could be his friend Tony the Turtle. Thunder found turtle a couple of years ago on one of our walks. He looks for him in the same place all the time.

You all did a good job rescuing your turtle and getting him to safety. We see way too many of them crushed on the streets here.

And poor Mom - we hope she gets to sleep in tomorrow.

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

♥I am Holly♥ said...

Thanks for rescuing him or her! Mom said she found one trying to cross a busy highway years ago and stopped and ran across to the median strip and got him and took him home! He was happy there though because she lived next to the woods with a pond and he would come up to visit her every now and then. Lots of love, Holly and mom

doyle and mollie said...

oh you really do tell great tales loves and licks

Lorenza said...

You were very nice taking good care of him!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Teddy Bear said...

Ww, what a fun visitor you had.:) I bet he was very thankful that you all took such great care of him.:)

Love,
Teddy Bear

Golden Woofs! SUGAR said...

Woof! Woof! Oh! My ... a turtle. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

The Daily Pip said...

I LOVE turtles. Do you know they can live over 100 years!!!

Your pal, Pip

The Daily Pip said...

I LOVE turtles. Do you know they can live over 100 years!!!

Your pal, Pip

Kapitein Haakje said...

woooow a turtle never seen that in realy life

Kissslobbers
El'bow & Hauwii

Anonymous said...

A tortoise! Cool! Great spot for him by a stream with vegetation. Lucky he landed in your garden!

Thinkin happy tortoise thoughts,
Roo

Dawn said...

Love them looking at the tortoise! Too cute!

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

That's a strange-looking animal. We've never seen one of those. How do you get it out of that little container it's in?

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

the booker man said...

that is so so cool! mr. tortoise just wanted to visit with ya'll. heehee. i don't think he would pinch your snooters cuz you were just trying to be friendly! i think you found a grrreat new home for him, too. good job!!
*woof*
the booker man

Kay Davies said...

Buddy and Ginger were very good not to try to harm the turtle, and alsovery fortunate they didn't get bitten.
Lindy (Lindimus Maximus) is learning to ignore wildlife her daddy photographs on their walks, but so far she hasn't met a turtle here on the Canadian prairie, and it's unlikely the desert tortoises of California could survive our winters, so all the rocks Lindy sees are apt to be just that ...rocks. She is also learning to ignore cats, dogs and horses she sees on her walks, but she still finds plenty of things to sniff. It's a good thing, too, because on today's walk she and her daddy didn't see any wildlife, any dogs, or any cats. That was a first.
Woof woof from Lindy to Ginger and Buddy, and thanks for visiting Lindy's mom's blog.

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