So far there has
been little more than mosquitos in the new in-ground pool in the front garden.
(Well, there’s some other practically microscopic invertebrate something buzzing around in there too,
and the male Indigo Bunting was eyeing it up the other day.)
While sitting on the
bench on my front deck (which over looks the pond) the other morning I realized
there was a bit more wave action in it than usual…
(No, don't focus on the plants, Camera! The turtle, the turtle...!)
Not quite what I was expecting to show up. I
should have realized, though, given the number of comments I’ve heard about how
much box turtles love going (intentionally) for a swim. Small pond, perhaps 15
or 20 gallons? Big box turtle.
I fished him out
just in case he wasn’t big enough to get over the low lip. (Must ponder the
best way to build an escape ramp…) He was the least fearful box turtle I’ve
handled in some time; I earned a few short hisses before he seemed to think
better of it. Normally, a box turtle realizes it has a pretty effective defense
mechanism: “I have a hinged plastron and I know how to use it!” *thwunk* I had
to plop him in a bucket when I went to get a different lens because I didn’t trust
him not to scamper off faster than I could get back outside. (I’ve been keeping
a haphazard photo account of box turtles I find in the yard; basically, I take
their pic and there it will sit in the memory card and the computer until I get
around to doing something a bit more scientific with it.)
As an apology and
restitution in case he had spent longer in the drink than he had intended, I
fetched out some lovely earthworms from a few inadvertent stashes I have.
(Given a year or two the mulberry and grape leaves compost beautifully all on their own just lying around in a pile on my
patio. Guaranteed to be full of earthworms.)
Because he wasn’t
really afraid of me, it took him about two eye blinks (his) before he
realized I had dropped breakfast in front of him.
*nom nom nom* And
then the bugs (biting flies have been added to the list of the other blood
suckers out and about, oh joy) got the better of me (although I didn’t come off
the front walk with nearly so many ticks as I expected to) and I let him go on
his way…
It was fun tracking
his slow, meandering progress across the front yard by the swaying-out-of-time-and-direction-with-the-wind
grass and vinca vines.
