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I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Dave

Behind our home is about 70 acres of undeveloped land where the owners graciously allow us to walk our dog and wander. We've been walking this piece of land now for 25 years. There are creeks and washes that run through it which are bone dry because of the drought.

On June 13th I posted about animals that live in and/or have visited our yard because it's so dry.

On Friday, July 1st, we were surprised when a turtle showed up. Stan found it near our gate and named him Dave. Maybe he smelled our yard. Or maybe he smelled the creek with water in it about a quarter of a mile down the road. I've read they can smell water several miles away, so maybe Dave was headed there. Of course we gave him a lift. We put him in a five gallon bucket with a little water and took him to the creek.

We've never had a turtle show up before. It's a bit of a journey to get to our house from the dry creek and through the woods. So, imagine our surprise and delight when two days later, on Sunday the 3rd, Dave Too appeared. You can see the boundary between our sad lawn (which gets a little water once or twice a week) and the grass beyond our gate.

Here's Dave Too, waiting patiently for us to take him to the creek.
Dave Too filled the bottom of the five gallon bucket, nearly ten inches long, a bit bigger than Dave. We think they are both sliders, but we're not sure. Stan believed Dave and Dave Too were soul mates journeying together who got separated.
We were happy to drive Dave Too to the creek and toss him in. His legs wiggled in excitement when Stan pulled him out of the bucket. (You can see how far down the water is from the top of the bank. Send rain y'all.)
Two turtles showing up right out side our yard in three days is magical. But it's also a sign of how hard the times are right now.

10 comments:

  1. Awww. He's cute. When I run, I always pass a big tortoise. I also love how you have tons of land behind you. There is something about being near the wild.

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  2. Reminds me of the turtle we found in our yard when I was about 9. We kept him in a washtub with water and climbing rocks for a few days before releasing him in the river. The way he joyfully scrambled down the muddy bank and into the water took any sting out of letting him go.

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  3. I love that you named them Dave and Dave Too! Made me laugh out loud. I'm going to add Rain for Bish to my list of prayers.

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  4. I love turtles. They remind me that the journey is just as important.

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  5. Turtles show up periodically from the pond about 300 yards away...looking for a place to lay their eggs...they like flat fields and such I believe. Perhaps you are not seeing a life struggle. Perhaps you are seeing life affirmation.

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  6. That's so romantic. You reunited two soul mates. Love their names by the way!

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  7. Droughts haven't affect us where we live so far since our city has it's own water supply and when drought conditions and water rationing have been announced all around us, there have never been similar actions taken here. Hope you get some rain soon. Poor animals.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  8. We rescued a turtle that had gotten hit, put him in a big tub with grass and leaves and a little pond. He was in a coma for a few days but then he started butting his head against the tub, so figured he was good to go. Me and the baby brought him down to the crik and let him go.

    I'm glad Dave and Dave Too got to you unscathed. Nice to think it might have been Dave and Davinia. I wonder if turtles mate for life.

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  9. Lol, those names!

    I stopped to get a turtle out of the road last week. As soon as I got near him, he took off into the woods. (I use the phrase took off in terms relative to a turtle - maybe ambled would work better there)

    It's been really dry here, too so maybe that's why we're seeing more of them.

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