While driving to the stable yesterday to perform our daily, mundane barn chores, we encountered a large (10" carapace, at least) red-eared slider hanging out right smack in the middle of the private road, just a few feet in front of the equestrian facility gate. I got out of the truck to move him out of the way, thinking it was a box turtle or some other dry-land species. Seeing it was a water turtle, I picked him up and tried to figure out a) where he came from, and b) where to put him.
This is Southern California–and, SoCal in August, I might add. There’s not a whole lot of water around. Mr. Turtle was found inbetween a baseball field and equestrian park, miles away from any body of water. Granted, there IS a wash just 100 feet away–but it’s also about 45 feet down. I don’t think turtles are good at scaling 40 feet of vertical cement barrier, followed by 5+ feet of chain link fence.
Closer inspection showed Turtle had teeth marks on his shell: best we figure, a dog found him somewhere more appropriate, carried him around until it grew bored with the shelled toy, and left it in some un-turtle-friendly locale not far from where we found him. Though there were bite marks, there were no obvious injuries to Turtle–his shell had done its job.
We brought him back to the barn–not knowing what else to do with him–and one of the other boarders immediately took a shine to him. We filled an unused muck tub with a few inches of water, put in large rocks that would enable him to exit the water and bask, and dug up earthworms for him to snack on, should he feel the need. The other boarder is moving at the end of the month to a house with two koi ponds, and they feel he’ll make a fine addition (and I think the ponds would be a fine home, better than a tank IMO). In the meantime, a relative of theirs (who has water turtles) will take care of him until they move into their new home. They do intend to post “found turtle” signs around the neighborhood and in a local reptile store.
I keep saying “he,” but I have no clue how to determine turtle gender. Maybe it’s a “she” as females are typically larger, I dunno.
Turtle–who was looking pretty dried up–soaked in his temporary home happily and seemed relieved to be in an aquatic environment once more, if a turtle can look relieved.
It’s not a kitten, but we still think it’s pretty cool.
It’s my spot-on-the-wall superpower and I’m going to exploit it for all it’s worth