Sue Ann
Well-Known Member
Wow Yvonne I did not know you had so many torts ! ?So this a.m. the phone rings and it's a neighbor from where I USED to live 25 years ago. He was driving down the street just south of me and saw a large turtle in a puddle. He left it there then went home and called me. I knew it would be gone by the time I got there, but I hopped in my truck and went looking for a turtle in a puddle.
I didn't bring my camera with me, darn it, but sure enough, there was a turtle in a puddle. And not just ANY turtle, but a Phrynops hillari. What are the chances of a Phrynops hillari being out in my neighborhood and it NOT being MY OWN turtle? Slim to none!
So I tossed her in the back of my truck and went home. I gave the fence around the pond a very close inspection, and all the RES and soft shells and pond turtles were very interested in what I was doing. So it appears none of them had escaped. This is the fence around the pond:
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Most of it has a lip so they can't climb out, and none of the grass on the pond side was trampled. I was unable to see where she climbed out of the pond area. However, as I was walking past the gulf coast box turtle yard I saw this (picture taken from outside the fence:
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The post is rotten and the nails had pulled out. I looked for any gulf coast box turtles and couldn't find a single one. I guess the lure of the wide open spaces was too much for them. But when I turned over their house, I found this:
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So I lost three beautiful full grown gulf coast box turtles, found a lost Phrynops hillari (that I didn't know I lost) and replaced my box turtles with four new ones!
This is the foot long feeder gold fish that's left in the pond. That's just his head as he's eating floating pellets:
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And here's the Phrynops before I put her back:
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I'm really bummed I lost my gulf coast. Who knows how long they've been out. The sideneck was about a mile away and very dry, so she had been out for a very long time. Dang it anyway!