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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFound one of these guys baking in the driveway - Gulf Box Turtle
The flood waters have flushed them out, and they scramble.
Beautiful creatures, and before you ask, yes I returned it, but in a moisture rich, leaf littered part of the area
Stuart G
(38,359 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)rain and partial flooding we've had. Cute little guy got stuck on the driveway after the rain left him there.
Now he is back where he belongs, but hopefully, on high enough ground that he doesn't get stuck.
They are suffering due to habitat loss. .
peacebird
(14,195 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)They are fairly vulnerable as people try to keep them as pets and habitat loss.
He was feisty little devil though. Once I got him cooled down enough so he could move again, he was ready to ... well, not run, but you know, walk quickly for a turtle.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)our box turtles are on the move. i frequently stop to move them out of the road. "Fast" walking for turtles is still pretty slow, but I know what you mean...!
Don't try to keep these guys as pets, as adorable as they are. They have a classification of Threatened.
Gorgeous little dudes, though, Terrapene carolina major.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)as an adult?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)You can tell their age by the shell rings. I've seen one with 12 rings, and brought him to a wooded area - twice. Same turtle, same time of year. They are amazing creatures.
They live about 50-100 years, so I don't think the rings pertain to years like trees do.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)And it wasn't that long ago
All those roads must be taking a hell of a toll
Aerows
(39,961 posts)population decline due to habitat loss. It makes me just as damn sad.
I remember the great tiny frog plague when I was growing up, around 1982 or so, where there were so many tiny frogs you had to sweep them away from the door.
I know that's a segue, but here along the coast, many, many creatures are losing their habitat.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)We had a little creek behind my house, and after a good rain back in... '94, i think? The whole course of the thing was just a big mass of toad-egg goo. Couple weeks later, you really couldn't walk without.. .well... yeah.
Had musk turtles, sliders, and box turtles down there too. And this was basically just a drainage ditch in West Mobile, a couple blocks away from the stupid baseball stadium they installed off the interstate.
Just looked, and apparently box turtles - of all species - can live well past 100, and a good number of those caught by researchers are 70+ years old. Kind of boggles the mind that I might have been seeing the same turtles that my grandpa was evading with his push mower back in '49. even more boggling that that critter could end up a smush on the road in less than a second.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and incredibly long-lived. I'd like to think I'm not TOO old, but the baby I rescued will probably outlive me if mankind doesn't do something even more stupid with the planet than they already have.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)or I call them the plague of frogs, what causes that? I remember not being able to open the patio door they were inches deep and would leap right in!
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)and the ones that surround me are just as fascinating as anything in another part of the world.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)wouldn't let the poor thing suffer. It's not easy being green.
NCarolinawoman
(2,825 posts)Read the link of my signature line, if you have a chance.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and thank you. I WISH I could do more.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)Glad it found a rescuer in you!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It was frying on the pavement, and it was plain too cute to die.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)I can't imagine letting a helpless creature suffer when I could help. Glad you feel the same.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)to leave an animal in suffering.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)You've got it right.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Cute!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)after he got cooled down in some water. He was absolutely precious, though
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,267 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)All it needed was a little helping hand.
nolabear
(41,915 posts)My granddaddy was a rambler. He's drive off for days leaving my grandmother to carry the load and hope he was sober enough to get home. He loved to bring us stuff, and box turtles were a favorite. (Also Mexican jumping beans, sugar cane, poke salet and various other foodstuffs.)
We'd keep them a day or two and he'd let them go. Probably scrambled the genes of half the box turtles on the Gulf, but I loved that man.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)endangered.
Oh, and I hope you didn't eat poke salet raw, cher
nolabear
(41,915 posts)Strange and wonderful stuff. The fugu of the South. 😄
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And I'm laughing because it's true!
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)I always pull for them to achieve anything they are trying to achieve. It takes them a while. Thanks for saving him.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I love pretty much all kinds of critters. I saw the poor thing stuck and knew that he was going to fry.
We've had SHED-LOADS of rain in the last few days, but today wasn't as rainy. I just gave the little guy his best chance, knowing that normally, he would have never had to face pavement, just a bunch of loamy soil.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)for a big pile of wet leaf litter
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)walking away with a mix of meandering away.
H2O Man
(73,308 posts)Thank you.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I couldn't leave it there to die in the sun
dballance
(5,756 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)being a decent human being wasn't something to remark upon - I wish it was merely the standard.
But thank you, and I appreciate you kind words.
Omaha Steve
(99,059 posts)At one point we had 23 total turtles. Eventually we let them go at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge.
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/DeSoto/
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm a tad South from you, but we share the same spirit.
3catwoman3
(23,812 posts)A few years ago, on the 4th of July, I looked out on our deck and saw a HUGE snapping turtle. The shell was probably about 18 inches long, and the tail another 12 inches. Its claws were huge. It looked like a small dinosaur. I wondered how it got there, and figured some foolhardy neighborhood adolescent had risked fingers to put it there.
Imagine my surprise when I found claws marks on the steps to the decks. I had no idea turtles could do stairs.
A neighbor braver than I repatriated it to the nearby wetlands 4 doors down.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They live longer than humans do in most cases!
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Like, twenty feet off the ground in a big live oak, just this bleached, fucking ugly skeleton (that's how you know it's a snapping turtle, they are not exactly a beautiful creature ) sitting in the crotch of two branches.
My dad of course, being a dad, told me that it happened because turtles are really, really slow. it wasn't until some time later that I learned snapping turtles have a point A to point B mentality and will literally just plow through anything that is on the line between those two points.
Even if it means hauling twenty pounds of turtle up a live oak.
I've often wondered if I had a shell that was impervious, I could probably get away with a lot of crime because you could shoot at me but not harm me.
Then I realized that even with all the ballistic quality armor, you can't beat needing to eat, pee and drink! LOL!
Seriously, they are amazing creatures. That's why I respect them enough to pick one off of the concrete that wouldn't have been there had *I* not been there and try to do the right thing.
We can't save everything, but if we get the chance, at least we can save SOMETHING.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)The more people that get excited about preserving our natural resources, the better!
I'll along with you
locks
(2,012 posts)that baby sea turtles have to swim and work hard when they're finally out in the big ocean. Many thanks to all the volunteers who also work hard to save all these wonderful animals.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They are not anywhere nearly as endangered as Sea Turtles, but the one pictured is Terrapene carolina major Gulf Coast Box Turtle
If I could save the 8 specie of sea turtles, I would, but this is a terrestrial one that functions like most reptiles in this area. It is nowhere NEAR as endangered as, for instance, Chelonia mydas, a sea turtle
That said, this is a creature that is native to my area, and I want to do everything I can to preserve them.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I love people who help animals.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and I love the cat creeping on it's two legs in the gif you have .
In all seriousness, I just love people and critters.
I'll get back to you when I figure out which of the two categories I love more
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)If it's not okay with dogs, then I don't see how turtles makes it any better.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)to do with box turtles is race them, and I have absolutely no intention of exploiting this one!
What the hell, jberryhill!?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)that I had garnered such ill-will by you on DU, jberryhill.
I'm curious as to the reason for attacking me in bland thread.
Which part of "here's a turtle" offended your sensibilities?
And don't discuss the disco rug. It was passed on to me from a relative with bad taste.
I know where I'm going the next time I need a ransom note printed up.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)and to get one. We kept him because he had been in a pet shop and were afraid he might not be able to survive on his own. But he got lots of time out in the garden.
I can't say for sure, but he did seem to like his people.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And they are an important part of our ecology here. In the wild, they are a concern because of declining populations. We must retain such ecological spheres with flora and fauna. They eat the awful bugs, like mosquitoes like they were born to do it.
What happened to your turtle, my friend?
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)When I was little, I had a turtle named Tom. My parents told me he "ran away." I found out when I was 15 that he died.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)From what I have learned. Like all cold blooded creatures they have to have warmth to digest.
They also need light because they operate not by conditions on the ground so to speak, they operate by the length of day. Many creatures do this.
nenagh
(1,925 posts)700 ft up a construction crane in downtown Toronto and his photograph was tweeted out by the crane operatotor, Rob MacFarlane , as he began work. "Raccoon defies gravity, then thinks better of it" Toronto Star.
I'm tech challenged, otherwise I'd post a link... it might give you a smile...
The Mayor of Toronto has declared war on raccoons in Toronto by developing a new recycling bin that is apparently raccoon proof.. Toronto residents recycle and compost wet waste, vegetable , fruit peelings etc.. to make compost for the city..a bit of a raccoon magnet, no doubt.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I am resigned to being teased about the raccoon incident and as you can see, I have a *very* hard time staying away from critters of all kinds.
I'm one of those dumb people that if their neighbor hollered "We have a snake!" I'd be rushing over to determine which Genus and species it is.
Tell your mayor that raccoons have little lock picking hands because their greatest sense is touch. They are haptic to a degree that would make you average high school student with a phone look clumsy.
raccoon
(31,089 posts)Thanks for posting.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)They are/were one of the most popular pet turtles. Problem is that they get pretty big and people let them loose in inappropriate places where they don't do well and where they interfere with the local turtles. See: http://www.turtlerescues.com/red_eared_sliders.htm
Or they may have been Eastern Painted Turtles which are slightly smaller, but still get way big for the standard home tank.
raccoon
(31,089 posts)get big.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)We never bought any - we caught our own in the swamp next to our house. My sister kept one for years but one day while she was cleaning it's tank, it disappeared. Many years later Mom found it in the back of a closet where it had crawled and was mummified. So by the time I was old enough tro
We also caught ring necked snakes
Damn - jujst lost power.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)LOTS of rain and lightning but not a lot of wind. Power was out for a while - my other message was messed up because when it goes out I have just enough time to post a message before the battery back up shuts everything off.
raccoon
(31,089 posts)hootinholler
(26,449 posts)Cupcakes? Cookies?
Hey Cher, how ya doin?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Itself! The rain flooded everything, and then receded leaving the little dude in the driveway on the cement.
I'm doing pretty good, my friend, you?
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Thanks for rescuing the little guy.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Couldn't let him die!
Warpy
(110,900 posts)I hope he realizes you're a typical lefty and a sucker for animals and sticks around for a while so you can watch him grow.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)of habitat is about 750 feet, so maybe I'll see him/her again someday, with a big developed shell and leaving a trail of ones its size !
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)Me too, my friend, me too!
I might bite, though, and as we all know I *have* had my rabies shots. And not in a good way. I wouldn't dare ruin my fine dental work with a nibble.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)And I hope y'all are staying safe there. We're getting pounded by the rain, wind, hail, lightning, and a few minor tornadoes (mostly those are dissipating not long after they form.) And it's all moving to the east. I'm wondering how long this warm front will remain semi-stalled over the coast here...
http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=29.65114021&lon=-95.48165131&zoom=8&pin=Houston%2c%20TX&rad=1&wxsn=0&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=0
Aerows
(39,961 posts)tomorrow with rain. Hail is expected.
1 block from where I grew up in New Orleans had hail the size of hens eggs - I kid you not, that was in the national weather report.
I'm further East these days, but I suspect we are in for more rain.
As an aside -
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Tell me how accurate that is. If we are in a slight drought after this week, I'd hate to see what wet weather is like!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Don't know if that will continue, though. I see by that map that y'all are in a moderate drought. I never would have guessed as I figured our rain was getting to you, too. (Okay, just had a 2-hr chat with my gf, her mum and stepdad, thus the long time to reply )
That Weather Underground page has an excellent weather map. I've been checking out the incidents of hail, wind, and tornadoes, one just southwest of here in Sugarland Thankfully, it did little damage. The lightning has been intense!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)wishing you and yours the very best!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Here's a photo I took last night to show the literal waterfall off the flat roof (the landlord still hasn't replaced the fascia boards so that he can then put up new gutters...)
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Cloudy, but no hens egg sized hail. Parts of the coast got that.
Please stay safe my friend and out of the terrible weather!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)There were some pop-ups for the possibility of 3" inch hail, but that was the largest I saw reported, and all of it much closer to the coast (Houston is about 50-60 miles inland.)
And, there's more on the way. It looks like Austin just got what we're about to get. I hope our DUers in Central Texas are doing well and staying away from low-lying areas between hills.
Hope y'all are doing well, too, Aerows. Stay high and dry!
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Saved one that wandered into the yard one morning. Closed his little front door while I carried him into to woods nearby.
Good going!