Turtle Crazy

Okay...I am sure you all remember a few weeks ago when Abby found a turtle in our backyard. We were all so excited that such a little treasure found it's way into our lives. For two weeks the kids observed "Shelldon" and took care of him. We read about Eastern Box turtles and discovered that Shelldon was a male turtle because of his bright golden markings and red eyes. Last Sunday Ole and the kids decided it was time to relocate Shelldon to a much better and safer home than our little neighborhood pond. Which by the way is about 1/4 mile away from our house....which for a little turtle is a pretty long haul. They took him to a beautiful nature preserve we have very close to our home and let him go peacefully into a wonderful and safe new home where it was much less likely that he might encounter danger.

Well....she did it again! This morning Abby came into the house and announced that she has found another turtle!!! All of our mouths fell open in total disbelief. As we went out to investigate and indeed she had done it again! Now keep in mind we have lived in Virginia for over 10 years and have never seen a single turtle. Now within 2 weeks we discover not one, but two in our backyard! The kids noticed right away that this time around we had a female turtle. She had far fewer markings and her head was shaped slightly different. They instantly knew she was a girl...and therefore she was dubbed "Shelly". The kids are thrilled about her as she seems to be much more lively and is actually quite fast. So, forget that old saying that turtles are super slow...as it's not true. That girl can move!!! We set her up with a lovely buffet of yummy fruits and veg and plan to take her to the same place where we let Shelldon go just a few days ago. The kids are hoping that they will meet and fall in love and have lots of babies together. How sweet is that!