Like a Herd of Turtles

"Try to be like the turtle - at ease in your own shell." - Bill Copeland

Here we are in the throes of Springtime, and what says Spring like a herd of turtles?
 
Sunday we saw a giant snapping turtle who was trying to cross the street near our church.  Unfortunately his story did not end happily, as the road by church is not a good one to cross if you're not in the crosswalk and can't travel faster than a 1/2 mile per hour. 

And so, at the mandate of the 6YO we are now destined to pick up every turtle we see on the street.  Sometimes I just don't point them out, but on the way back to Kindergarten on Monday we saw one on the overpass of the highway. 

He turned out to be cute, and friendly, so we took him to Kindergarten where they watched him all day.  He had more fun when we got home that evening, trying to be fed and enjoying the false hope that he was escaping many, many times before nightfall.  My son even built him a "pond".  It was more like a hole that he filled up with the garden hose, but the turtle ended up with a bath nonetheless.

I finally coerced my son to let him go before he himself had to get into the bathtub.  He chose the neighbors' pond as a turtle oasis.  Much better than the highway overpass, I'd say.

Today, after dropping off the kids at school, I saw this little guy crossing the road by our house.  Naturally, being a good turtle herding momma, I corralled him for the kids to play with later this afternoon.  

He is not so friendly or as curious as the other turtle, and appears to have had a liquid diet for breakfast.  His bladder also appears to have control issues, but I'm sure they will love him just the same.   

I'm sure he'll enjoy the turtle oasis that is our current designated release spot. 

Perhaps that's where he came from. 

Or perhaps that's where he was going. 

Perhaps he'll forget after all this trauma!