Turtles and the Tortoise
When one of our friends moved in, she brought her red slider turtle with us. His name is Skeeter. We decided since we had lots of room we should build him a little outside area because he'd never had a big space to be in before. So out came a kiddie pool and up went a quickie fence and almost as quickly, disappeared one turtle. Our friend was sad. I looked and looked and after three days, when I was ready to give up, there in a pile of weeds was Skeeter! Hurrah! I was so happy about it, I wrote a post on FaceBook. Yay for the turtle return.
A short time later I received a message from another friend asking if I would like another red slider that someone had put in their yard. Of course I said "Yes!" We knew we had to build a real turtle enclosure with a pond and a sturdy, escape proof fence. It took us a few months, but we now have a very nice little pond that has two smaller containers pouring water into it. Skeeter and Tilly, the new turtle, love it. We added lots of plants and a sunning area. When they want to hide, there are lots of hiding spots. Every morning they like to lie out in the sunshine to get warmed up. They like to swim around their pond and they have both grown bigger.
Mrs. Fuggles is an African Sulcata Tortoise. She is BIG. We think she is only maybe 9 or 10 years old. About 7 years ago she walked into the yard of a neighbor who lived down the street. They called me up and said, "We found your turtle." I walked down the street to take a look and instead of the pretty small box turtle that had escaped 3 years before, I saw this giant tortoise. Hm. Was there a nuclear zone between my house and theirs? No... I don't think so. They didn't want the tortoise so I took it home and put it in one of our shade houses. Over the years I have expanded the yard and added a tortoise house. Mrs. Fuggles has dig a tunnel in one spots of the yard and likes to hide in there on hot days. It is cool in the tunnel. She may grow to be up to 150 pouunds and live to be over 100 years old. Oh my! I will have to pass her down in my will. :)