Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Only A Mother Could Love

Look what we found? Seriously, do they come any cuter than this? He's a newborn diamond back terrapin. He was our pet for one full day before I sobered up and realized what I was getting in to. Besides, it violates one of our key pet prerequisite rules: Must Not Draw Too Many Amps. Considering we run either on a 30amp shore power plug-in for the dock or on solar power when anchored out, heat lamp requiring cold blooded creatures are not suitable to boat life.

So we loved on him for a day, then brought him to SERC and let him be free.

But oh that face.


p.s. Edited to add that we have suddenly become The Home for Wayward Turtles. Today we found a box sitting on our finger pier. One peek inside revealed this guy. A box turtle.

It was like a baby bundled and left on somebody's doorstep. I looked around for the guilty party and saw a row of smiling faces in greasy shirts peeping at me from the reeds. The construction guys who are (STILL) working on our docks have become Zach's buddy. They've nicknamed him "nature boy" and have taken to bringing him any critter that gets in the way of their progress. The sweet thing about this is they made a little habitat in the box improvised with grass, half of an electrical junction box, and a cut up soda bottle. Zach named him Fire Blaze for his red eyes, but he didn't even get the 24 hour royal treatment. The poor little guys was clearly desperate to roam free, so after a few hours of fondling, he's back in the great green yonder.
Fare thee well Fire Blaze. And Guys, no more critters, ok?

11 comments:

Stefani said...

Well there's a pet prerequisite that I'd not heard of!
He's awfully cute, but yes, probably better suited to the wild. Good on you for having the courage to look into that sweet face and do the right thing!

waldorfmama said...

adorable! but i agree, a good decision. :)

Joy said...

He IS awfully cute! :)

Mama_Amethyst said...

This little guy is so adorable. I found a bigger turtle (box, I think) on my way back from church Sunday morning. He was trying to cross a busy street at an intersection. I couldn't let him get smashed by a car, and I also couldn't leave my baby strapped in his car seat while I helped the turtle. So, we had a turtle for a couple of days. We gave him a tomato that he really liked. I thought that I could take him to the conservation department, but their website said to let them back into the wild. Our son was enthralled by him. He was following him around in the grass. Then, we let him go. He didn't really seem to like staying at our place. This little guy is much cuter. I would have had more trouble letting him go. Thanks for sharing the story with us.

Jenell said...

What is it about turtles?! I love them, too.

Have you read the kids' book Old Turtle?

Anonymous said...

Oh, he is so cuuute!

gardenmama said...

Oh, such a cute little face!
There is just something about turtles they draw me in every time : )

Human runner said...

Great blog! I love this! My husband and I would eventually like to live aboard with our son, so this is inspirational.

boatbaby said...

Did y'all see the update? More turtle love! Thanks for all of the kind comments! We've considered renaming our boat with a turtle themed name, but naming a boat is harder than naming a kid!
Looking for Freedom - welcome aboard and best to you in your journey into boating.

Dawn Suzette said...

That is one cute turtle....
I have enjoyed your blog tonight! Thanks for sharing life on a boat!

christine ~ ourdayourjourney said...

I see, lots of turtles. Wonderful for your nature boy!!! Congrats on your new home.

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