Leave The Animals Alone

Yesterday while geocaching, we found a snake (see previous post). At the Hurt house, were are NOT snake people. Today, we met a much more pleasant reptile...a turtle. Although it is much less startling to happen upon a turtle than a snake, I think I used better judgment when I saw the snake. I saw the snake yesterday and left it alone. I saw the turtle today and asked Amanda (now GeoPunkin...her geocaching username) if she would like to take the turtle home. I thought "How hard can it be to keep a turtle as a pet?"

We got him home, gave him a bath a set some lettuce in front of him. While he was chowing down on the lettuce, Amanda decided we needed to name him...Grumpy O'Mally is what she came up with. This name arose from the fact that the first (and only) sound we heard him make was a hissing sound when we first picked him up.

After Grumpy finished eating and explored every inch of my office floor, Amanda and I looked up turtles on the Internet to see how to care for him and what to feed him. OK, the diet thing would not be such a problem, but finding someplace to keep him was another story. It seems, to stay healthy, turtles really need to live outside. I was going to use some chicken wire and section off a corner of our yard from him. But I guess if a turtle sees chicken wire or a chain link fence, he wants to get to the other side and will hurt himself or drive himself crazy trying to get out, so you have to buy something like vinal siding to put in front of the fence to make it appear solid. And then they have to have both direct sunlight and shade. And a water bowl thing. And leaves. And rocks and wood. The short version...about $50 to make a cage for a pet that you just look at.

So the reason I say I showed more wisdom in my response to the snake is because Amanda now "loves Grumpy O'Mally and it is like he is part of our family." The thought of taking him back to his home caused her to cry for 30 minutes! After a good cry and discussing what was best for "our newest family member", we decided we would take him back to his home and set him free tomorrow after school.

Lesson learned: poisonous or not...leave the animals alone!

- Rob