Monday, May 20, 2013

The Turtle!

(At the moment life is pretty crazy/busy, in a fun way, with all of our visitors - this happened a couple of weeks ago, but I saved it for when I knew I wouldn't have time to write a real post.)

We had a different visitor in the backyard this week - Paco was the first to spot it as it walked by my office window:
 A turtle!  With an orange head - I've never seen one like this before.  

I went outside with my camera, making Paco stay inside the house (he wasn't very happy about that).  I zoomed in to get another picture, when suddenly, very stealth-like, Kip appeared:
The turtle opened his mouth - I wasn't sure if he would try and bite Kip or retreat into his shell, but I wasn't taking any chances with either of them.  I grabbed Kip and put him into the house, then went back to taking more turtle pictures:
The turtle looks mad that his walk was interrupted by all of us...
Someone else was mad, too.
 Yep.  That is the face of one pissed-off cat.
At this point, angry turtle would like for the paparazzi to go away...

Of course we couldn't leave him alone.  Well, I could - I was keeping a healthy distance from that thing and letting my zoom lens do the work.  But Jeff came home and wanted to move it:
 But not before taking a closer look...
This is where his head is - sealed up nice and tight!

Jeff put the turtle in a little grove of trees, and we let Paco out:
 Not sure who was more scared, the turtle or the dog.
 Sniffing, sniffing...
...and he licked it.  Ewwww!

A few hours later the turtle was gone.  And then Kip killed a lizard, I guess in retaliation for not getting to "play" with his reptilian cousin.  Animals.  They're such...animals!

12 comments:

  1. Great pics! And the whole photo essay has the beginnings of a children's book. You're already a writer Shelley, and the illustrations are done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the turtle, Paco and Kip. You are right, they are all animals, in the cutest way! Your story reminds me of the Fantastic Mr. Fox.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I LOVE THIS.
    and it is a picture book in the making...

    ReplyDelete
  4. How fun to find a turtle in your backyard! I love turtles. Do you think he was wild, or was he someone's pet that wandered away?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wild, I bet. I'd feel bad if he was a pet, considering we didn't post "found" signs... :(

      Delete
  5. I love turtles! We have a California Desert Toroise that is much bigger than the one you found. He likes to nip at our dogs, luckily he isn't very fast and the dogs know to get out of his way. Maybe he will come back to visit again.

    ReplyDelete
  6. that look on your kitties face was priceless!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love turtles! I always feel honored if they come onto my property (which is really, really rare and usually just passing through) because it means my environment is acceptable to them.

    Kip looks really annoyed LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's why I love animals :) Kip is really pissed off, so funny to see. And Paco thought he got a bone or something LOL.

    I wonder where the turtle came from, if it was an escaped pet or just living in the wild. Here turtles are only kept as pets, they don't live in the wild.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it was a wild turtle - we've seen them on the road before (although not one with an orange head).

      Delete
  9. Great turtle pics! There is something so endearing about turtles, and how cool that this one showed up for a photo shoot!

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG, I LOL at Kip's pissed off face. That is hilarious! I love this post, thanks for sharing Shelley. Have fun with all your company!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!