In my constant effort to make my hingeback enclosures as close to natural, as possible, I bagged several bags of leaves to place within their enclosures. It was cold out the other day, so I brought one of the bags in to warm before spreading into the enclosures.
While it was warming up, the kittens and cats explored the plastic trash bag carefully. They played on it and it was the center of attention for all of them. All was fine, until they managed to untie the strings holding it closed. Suddenly the were digging and tunneling into the bag and thus the leaf pile. By the time I spotted the way play had evolved, I had a small pile of leaves scattered every where. So after emptying what was left of the bag into enclosures and sweeping up the floor (while muttering a few choice words), all was right with the world. The tortoises meanwhile were having their own heyday tromping all over the leaves and making a loud crinkling noise, it would make you think Yvonne's elephants were in the room stomping on leaves.
The next day, I saw the leaves had almost vanished in a few enclosures, so I brought the next bag in to warm. Thinking of the day before, I made sure to knot the bag tightly and left it on a chair. Then off I went to do some shopping of supplies. When I returned home, I was greeted with leaves falling every where. Leaves were scattered from one room to the next. Leaves were on top of enclosures and on the floor, too. Kittens would run from one room into the other, then jump on the leaves to slide on the leaves across the floor. Others were hunting the leaves and carrying of the captured trophies to undisclosed locations. It was like some wild New Year's celebration with leaves instead of confetti. (No Kristina, I did NOT take any pictures... I was too busy contemplating the best way to skin cats and kittens. )
I have swept and swept and still today, I am finding leaves everywhere. The things I do for these tortoises.
While it was warming up, the kittens and cats explored the plastic trash bag carefully. They played on it and it was the center of attention for all of them. All was fine, until they managed to untie the strings holding it closed. Suddenly the were digging and tunneling into the bag and thus the leaf pile. By the time I spotted the way play had evolved, I had a small pile of leaves scattered every where. So after emptying what was left of the bag into enclosures and sweeping up the floor (while muttering a few choice words), all was right with the world. The tortoises meanwhile were having their own heyday tromping all over the leaves and making a loud crinkling noise, it would make you think Yvonne's elephants were in the room stomping on leaves.
The next day, I saw the leaves had almost vanished in a few enclosures, so I brought the next bag in to warm. Thinking of the day before, I made sure to knot the bag tightly and left it on a chair. Then off I went to do some shopping of supplies. When I returned home, I was greeted with leaves falling every where. Leaves were scattered from one room to the next. Leaves were on top of enclosures and on the floor, too. Kittens would run from one room into the other, then jump on the leaves to slide on the leaves across the floor. Others were hunting the leaves and carrying of the captured trophies to undisclosed locations.
It was like some wild New Year's celebration with leaves instead of confetti. (No Kristina, I did NOT take any pictures... I was too busy contemplating the best way to skin cats and kittens. )I have swept and swept and still today, I am finding leaves everywhere. The things I do for these tortoises.
