Bip---wandering around your store?! I wonder what they are doing. I don't think it is egg laying season. ??
Rescuing turtles and tortoises is a benefit of gardening. We are more in tune to the needs of plants and animals. I once got a call in work from a fellow employee in the parking lot,"Come to the parking lot quickly, the lot is full of baby snappers and soon the employees will be leaving." I went to the parking lot and sure enough, emerging from a sandpile used in the winter for sanding the lot, were baby snappers heading in every direction. Someone had a bucket and soon three of us rounded up 35 snappers. Down to the local pond where I released the wayward brood. When I returned to the lot two more had been found. These I took home and released into my own pond. The eager youngsters quickly disappeared into the dark waters of the pond. Enough excitement for the day. Jerry
1,2,3,4......10 yep, all ten still attached. However, I once made the mistake of stepping in my pond without my boots, ugh!! Leaches!! I spent the next few minutes de-leaching my feet. I think the snappers have headed for grander waters, they probably did not like the local cuisine. Jerry
Speaking of turtles........ When I was very little, our family dog was a Labrador. Princess was the sweetest thing, and would go for long walks every day to and through our local park with my Dad, and sometimes I'd accompany them. The park was huge, with an enormous pond in the center of it. Princess was very well trained, and would say right by my Dad's side always, until we got close to the pond and he gave her the release command......at which point she'd rocket down the rest of the path, and cannonball into that pond and swim like the dickens, until my Dad called her out again! This one morning, after she'd been released and was happily paddling around in the pond, all of a sudden she gave a huge help, and beelined for the shore. Upon jumping out of the water, we couldn't help but notice a small turtle dangling off one of Princess' teats! He'd bitten that enticing bit of flesh and was hanging on for dear life! Poor princess. Dad ultimately got the thing off and put the turtle back in the water, checking to make sure it hadn't broken the skin. I knew the pond was full of fish, but had no idea about the turtles until that incident. Princess continued to go for swims in the pond. Interestingly though, even though we took the same route to the park and the pond every day, from that point on, Princess veered WAY off to her right before jumping in!
