Turtle Time

One of my students emailed me on Monday night and told me her dad had found a turtle in the road and brought it home. Did I want it for my class? I told her to bring it in because I love turtles and we would see what we could do about it. So "Flash", what one student named him, hung out with us today. She was not too happy about it and kept climbing up the sides of the cage so I put her in a big box with some water and food.

I'm not sure what type of turtle she is and I'm pretty sure it was a she because of the shape of her shell. Flash is one of many wild turtles I've seen in this country and I couldn't bear the thought of her living in captivity in my classroom. That isn't a life and she needs to be out there making more turtle babies.

I did use her, sorry Flash, to scare some 7th grade boys which brought me more pleasure than it should have. HeeHee

So after school I put her back in her cage and placed her in my bicycle basket. Of course I was a smartass and rang my bell through the school (like a mini turtle ambulance) on my way out the gate. The little kids thought that was great! I travelled around Lotus Pond until I found a place where I could place her safely that was close to the water and had lots of places to hide and grass to travel on. As I took her out of the cage, a woman stopped by and kept pointing to the water indicating I should bring her out there. I would have had to climb over a fence with a full backpack but she kept insisting. I did NOT follow her directions and placed her gently on the ground. She took off in a flash, hence the name, and was under a rock before I could count to 5. Safe and sound I hope. The woman tsked me and walked away. I felt good just putting the turtle back into a real environment. I didn't have to hurt myself climbing over a fence in the process, thank you very much.

I rode by this morning to check if she was still there and she wasn't so I'm hoping she is making some new turtle friends in Lotus Pond and has many turtle babies that she names after me.