Up Close and Personal

These guys are still out and about. They should be hibernating soon...we keep expecting them to be under when we go to say hi but I guess they aren't ready just yet. I got these awesome pictures the other day. There was some turtle piggybacking rituals going on and I couldn't resist!

Some got out awhile back, right before we were leaving for Georgia. We were checking them out one day and the neighbor boy came over to say that he saw two in his front yard. I was shocked and immediately counted them and four were missing. I was dumbfounded! As we see it, there is no way they could climb out, and we dug their wall down several inches so they couldn't tunnel under and out. I was suspicious of the neighborhood kids coming to play with them and possibly letting them loose, but I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt. So we took off to Georgia and decided it was a loss.

This little lady might be laying eggs! She could just be chillin' out, but the thought of egg laying is more exciting! Anyway, we got back from Georgia and friend from down the street called to say there was a turtle in her front yard if I wanted to bring Joseph down. I couldn't believe it! I knew that had to be one of our missing ones. So I took off down there with a box and brought him back home. He was one of the big ones. We got excited about the fact that they might still be around. Josh read online that they don't travel far from their home base so we thought there might be hope! Another fun fact; he read that turtles have a type of honing mechanism within them and they will head to the place where they were born if they are lost. Then we saw a neighbor in the alley and he said the people in the house behind his had seen one. So I got busy with my magic marker and made 'lost turtle' signs. I felt a little silly writing "lost pet box turtles" but we hoped they weren't far and we could actually get them back.

When we were out inspecting the yard and turtle pen around that time, we did find the baby's shell. He didn't make it. Makes me think a cat or something carried him out, but I don't know how realistic that is. We just don't know how they escaped. I started asking everyone I ran into if they had seen any turtles (as I was hanging signs) and one girl had seen them! Two together! But that had been a couple of weeks before. So these guys were all over the place! We continued hanging signs and before we even made it home I got a call on my cell phone from a lady who saw the sign. She said she thought one was in her backyard. We traipsed all over her backyard looking for him and found the stinker behind her shed!! This was amazing!

I was so proud of myself! All but one was accounted for. Sure enough the next day another person called me to say there was one in her front yard. She said she had been laughing at my "lost pet box turtles" sign, then she ended up finding one herself! How's that for karma?! We raced down there and brought home our last lost turtle. We were really down on ourselves at first thinking of these poor guys. Josh's dad has had them for over a decade and we can't even keep them a month. We were really dreading telling him what happened, but now there is a happy ending! HA! On top of all that, the next day I was going to take down the signs and the city had already been by and removed them. I didn't have to do it myself and it was perfect timing with the return of all our babies back home.

These three are all males with their colorful skin. I swear they are getting more vibrant. I don't know if it is because of the cooler weather, diet, or maybe it's physiological, related to the move to their new home at our house - like they are comfortable and well adjusted now. I've tried to find out online but I can't find the answer.

We are just happy they are safe and sound...and oh so beautiful with their incredible orange and yellow necks and legs. They fit in perfectly for fall!