" Slow and steady wins the race " We seem to all need to work on patience...
Turtles are funny looking and it makes me laugh when I see their grandpa lips and long necks that suddenly surprise you when they actually stretch them out. It would only be natural that we would need a turtle around us at all times to keep us in constant reminder that patience is a virtue...
Well.... this wasn't my initial reason for always wanting a pet turtle...But, you would have to learn patience cleaning that tank, right?
So the first time we attempted to get a turtle as a pet was when I first met Kevin and his friend Lynn had a daughter who had one of those tiny turtles that never grows up. Exactly what I wanted! I was quizzing her so much about her turtle (where she got it, etc. ) that she told me she didn't want it anymore, and I could have it. Okay, exotic cats ( our pet Juma ) and baby turtle just don't go together. I had to take my turtle to work, where my boss lady liked the turtle so much that I gave it to her...I was sad about it, but she really wanted to give it to her grandson...
Second time we tried to get a turtle as a pet was when we found one with a cracked shell on the side of the road. Kevin said he had experience with this, and that we needed to take it to an animal hospital right away. Apparently he has a list of animals that owe their lives to him when he rescues them roadside and takes them to a hospital.
The third time I found a turtle was when I was running with my team outside of Cooper Aerobics Center. We were to do our workout and then meet with their injury specialist in a classroom after our run. I saw a baby turtle about half way through my run. He had crossed the road and was about to go into a field of grass. I told my friend E-dub ( Emily W. ) that I wanted that turtle and I was going to carry it for the rest of my run. She convinced me not to get it while I was running. She said I might give the turtle brain damage with all my bouncing. So I used the turtle as motivation to run even faster. I told myself if I could find that turtle when I was done, I was going to take it home and give it to Brooke. Well turtles are slow and it made me feel slow when I couldn't find the turtle after the run. E-Dub helped me find it finally and we rushed into the classroom. We put the baby turtle the size of a fifty cent piece into a paper cup and sat it on the floor. Pretty soon our coach was whisper yelling across the room, " Little E...your speedy turtle is across the room! " It was worth it to interrupt the specialist and catch the turtle from that moment on who would be called " Prefontaine " after the famous runner. At three years old Brooke could pronounce his name correctly and she could tell the story about why her turtle was nick-named " Pre " . We watched him grow and Kevin even took him out of the tank and traced him with a sharpie on the garage wall alongside Brooke's measurements. When he got to normal size Kevin made us release him into a lake.
So you can bet what happened when we got to Arbuckles and saw a huge turtle on the roadside just outside the closed park. ( We were there early to be the first ones in the park ) I wanted that huge turtle as a pet in my backyard!!! Kevin immediately said no, but I said, " Well, we have to show our kids...Will you bring it to the car and show Will through the window of the car? " He agreed even though I kept telling the kids, " Wait til you see this turtle, it looks like a dinosaur! " The big turtle had a dinosaur like tail with humps along it's spine. As Kevin approached the turtle, this turtle didn't do what every turtle I have ever seen do, does...He didn't do the quick hiding of his neck and face...He actually stuck his long neck out of the shell. As Kevin had the turtle about half way into the air, this turtle started reaching his neck towards Kevin's hand to bite!!!!! Kevin dropped the turtle. I jumped out of the car in excitement. We still had no idea what we were dealing with... Kevin shocked said, " That is the meanest turtle I have ever met! " I said, " That was crazy...pick it up again! " So he went for it again! This time the turtle actually jumped in the air! What is this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in training? I had no idea a turtle could jump? Quickly realizing my vision of this turtle in my backyard wasn't going to happen, I brought Will out of the car and sat him on the hood of the car so he could see this crazy turtle. Brooke was scared, and the only smart one, who knew well enough to stay away from this turtle. As we went into Arbuckles I started asking if they had a lot of turtles in their park, and are they naturally here, or brought in? The zoo keeper said, " Well if you find one, you can bring it to us." I said, " We tried to catch a big turtle roadside and it jumped up to bite us! " He was mortified. He said, " You are out of your mind! That was a loggerhead turtle, a.k.a. Snapping turtle! If he would have bit down on your hand, you would have had to go to the hospital and have the doctor saw it's head off , in order to get it's jaw to unlock! " We had no idea turtles could be dangerous? When I explained the size of the turtle he said it was probably 50 plus years old at least. I felt really bad for pressuring Kevin to pick that turtle up so much after I knew what it could have done to him...When we told Mark Mansingh about the turtle he couldn't believe it. I still must not understand how bad these turtles can be?...Mark is the guy that Kevin and I went into a a bear cage with just a few short months ago, and he said he thinks the turtle is more dangerous than three bears? Who knows? But this was wild to see a turtle jump into the air and open it's mouth like a fierce shark ready to bite it's prey...I don't think turtles are so innocent and funny anymore...
ARBUCKLES IS TOO EXCITING TO GET GOOD PICS.....NO TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THAT...
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