Yet Another Turtle Rescue

This afternoon when Oliver and I were out running errands we had to make one last stop at Target and when we pulled into the very busy parking lot what do we see... a turtle in the middle of a busy intersection scared to death not knowing which way to go. Cars were racing by and sadly most people weren't  even slowing down. Without even hesitating I pulled into the first available parking spot, jumped out of the car, stopped traffic and scooped her up and carried her to safety. Thankfully, there was a small patch of grassy area close by and we set her in there. However as we were walking into the store Oliver and I both agreed that we couldn't leave her there because she was certain to crawl out of there and get hit by a car. We quickly ran into the closest shop and asked for a paper sack and then Oliver and I went back to find her. Even in the few minutes that we were in the store she managed to wander into a precarious area and I quickly collected her and put her into the bag and we were soon on our way home with a turtle in a paper grocery sack. Oliver held the bag and she was obviously very frightened and started clawing her way through the bag...did I mention that she is pretty big, much larger than the other two turtles we have rescued. On the way I called home to let them know to prepare the turtle bucket for another rescue and when we pulled into our driveway Abby and Henry were anxiously awaiting to meet our new friend. The kids are currently absolutely in love with her and have named her "Shelly", and yes we know she's a girl because we have done all kinds of research on Eastern Box Turtles and there is no mistaking she is a female. So, for the next day or so we are going to let the kids watch her and then we will take her to our local wildlife preserve and let her go where we have released all of our rescued turtles.

I have to say I was very proud of my munchkins as Oliver retold the story of "Shelly's" rescue and how he was deeply disturbed by everyones obvious lack of compassion for another living creature. "How could anyone be so uncaring to not do something to help an animal that was in obvious danger" he said and my other three agreed. My heart filled with pride as I listened to them and I thought to myself..."This is the best Mother's Day gift ever!"

Dawn