After a fun morning helping the Ironwood Cafe retain it's title as cleanest restaurant in Cleveland, I meandered back to Rancho Relaxo to start Sunday Funday. Seth rocked some Rockband, and I rocked the couch until Corinne's kids were dropped off. Shortly after, Corinne came back from her excursion in the hills of Athens, Ohio with the beloved Hookah boys welcoming a Sunday with hiking, and some bathroom remodeling. Nothing to crazy except crabby kids, and possible homework to hinder the Lord's day.
Shortly after making plans to go for a hike with the family, I walked by the turtles, and I noticed two white things on the bottom of the tank. On Thursday, I had fed the turtles sushi from a late dinner Corinne, and I had Wednesday. I reached in, grabbed what I thought was left over fish, and threw it out. As soon as I threw it away, something clicked. I went back over to the tank, and called Corinne over to see what was on the bottom of the tank. We quickly concluded that what we thought was fish was actually what was left of turtle eggs. Bob, pictured on the right, entered our home a couple of years ago after Seth's mother gave up on caring for the reptiles, and handed them off to me. Bob, had a friend named Speedy, but Mother Nature took Speedy away from us. We replaced him with a River Cooter named Tela. We assumed Tela was a female, and from what I was told Bob was a male. I have a friend Danielle, and she mentioned in the past that she thought Bob was a female. I did a little research, and was only able to conclude that Bob was a female by size of the tail. The smaller the tail, the more it is likely to be a female.
Corinne immediately got online, and started research to see if it was possible one of the turtles birthed 2 eggs over the past 24 hours. Online research indicated that turtles are supposed to lay their eggs in sandy conditions, and not underwater, which is why the 2 eggs I found did not last. She also read that turtles usually don't have just one egg. Corinne asked me to inspect the turtle, to which we noticed the back of the turtle was engorged. I immediately put Bob down, and we knew that we had to something.
As a kid my parent's took us down to the Nature Center in the Cleveland Metroparks, so I had an idea on an ideal home for turtles after seeing various wild turtles basking on logs in 2 of the marshes located behind the Nature Center. This brings us to the moral issue of this adventure. It is illegal to drop pets from home in the Valley, and would the turtle survive in the wild? I understand why it is illegal, but as the turtle, I feel you can take it out of the wild, but you can not take the wild out of it.
We quickly hatched an escape plan, and got the kids into the car. I put Bob, or as Seth called it by now, Bobette, into a box. I was worried about Bobette birthing 2 more eggs in the box, so I was concerned. We arrived 20 minutes later, and scouted out a spot on the muddy shores for the release. I did feel like a criminal carrying a box with a turtle in it, but Corinne concocted a good cover for us in case the rangers busted us. We found a decent area, like we were experts, and got Bob out of the box. Bobette roamed around for a couple of minutes, but quickly ran into some obstacles. At this point it was now, or never so I scooped Bobette up, and put her in the water. Without hesitation, Bobette descended into the murky waters, only to quickly poke her head up, almost suggesting that it was okay for us to go.
Water works started as Lilly cried for a minute or two. Seth followed shortly after the ladies went toad hunting. I stuck around to see if Bobette somehow would change her mind, and march out of the water signally that Bobette was coming home with us. In the background Corinne noticed a log in the distance with a turtle basking in the sun. We took it as a sign, and headed to the trails behind the Nature Center, and attempted a hike.
So, as I finish this, I feel bad that I did not provide the correct atmosphere for it to prosper, but I was not having this turtle having more eggs. But, I learned an important lesson in pet ownership. I am not taking anymore turtles until I have the right place in my life for them. As for now, we still have Tela to take care. He now has his own tank, and more then enough room to roam. Congrats little guy on proving your manliness.
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