If you are new to this site, then you probably haven’t read about my obsession with turtles. I just love these little elusive guys and never seem to be able to get close to them before they disappear back into the water I will stop my car and rescue wandering turtles and place them in my car until I can relocate them to a safer place.
A couple months ago, my daughter and I were thrilled when we found not one, but two baby turtles stranded near the golf course. We walked them over to one of our canals and placed them in the water.
On Wednesday, while beginning my afternoon walk with my dogs, lo and behold, a baby turtle was crawling up my driveway. I was so excited to find him that I picked him up and took him inside. My poor dogs looked at me with such disappointment, losing out on their afternoon walk to a turtle.
Since he was so far from the banks of a canal, he must have traveled far. He was covered in mud so I gently rinsed him off which made his brilliant colors stand out. It appeared that he was a Red Eared Sliding Turtle which are commonly used for pets. In fact, they used to be only found in the Southern part of the U.S. but so many people have released them into the wild that they can be found anywhere. This is a hearty turtle breed and can live up to 70 years.
After a brief photo session, and seeing that he didn’t care for the bread scraps that I offered him, it was time to release him back into the wild, man-made canals. My daughter and I laid him on the banks and watched as he swam away under the water never looking back.
