Three of my box turtles soak in the pond

Mmathis

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I'll give the story behind these shots later -- it's late & I'm about to fall asleep......

These are the only ones that would sit still long enough for a picture.
Draco ( bottom, with green paint ) is the most photogenic little guy! Smile for the camera, Draco!
image.jpg
 

Aaron S

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Seeing those reminds me of when I was a kid. Every 4th of July my small home town had weekend long celebrations that included, parade, bbq, all night dance, sand box dig. One of the favorites was the turtle races. There would be over 100 racing for glory. I was a lot of fun.
 
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I love turtles and box turtles. They are smart. I had a dear turtle since I was around 10 years old and he lived into the 80"s for 37 years.. Suzie was his first name until I learned he was male. Then we called him Turtle Boy. I am allergic to cats and dogs so a turtle was my forever pet. I still miss him to this day. He would have loved our pond. He went to Canada with us and Florida a few times to visit grandparents via jets and once on a GreyHound Bus due to an airlines strike. Back then what was TSA? No carry-on fees no bag security checks - that was flying free. He would look at himself in a hand mirror with a blue back thinking it was another turtle. He was able to recognized that shade of blue. You can teach your buddies a color if they show interest in the mirror or try using food to teach them - flash one color as they come for the food. He thought his image was a mate and would walk around the mirror to see her back side. LOL. I would knock 3 times on the floor and he would walk from under my bed to see "her". He had time out from his tub of water and was allowed to roam my bedroom (when I was single & living at Moms. Later in a spare room after I married. The knock would be a signal for him and i would flash the blue side. I would have other color paper lined up and he always went to the blue. I think that works because he wanted a mate. Maybe Koi can be taught with food to recognize color, should be interesting.

Turtle Boy was mostly black with yellow stripes. Mom bought him for 59 cents from the Woolworth dimestore for me. He grew to 6 inches. He would follow me around the house and knew his way back to my bedroom!
 

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j.w

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Always have had a soft spot in my heart and love for the turtles. You have nice ones TM :)
 

Mmathis

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@R.Rose -- I love your story! Thanks for sharing!

Turtles also have individual personalities, and the 3 in the picture [out of my total of 7] are the friendliest. Before I placed them on the rock to soak, I correctly predicted which ones would sit calmly :)
 

Mmathis

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Always have had a soft spot in my heart and love for the turtles. You have nice ones TM :)
Thank you, J.W! I think it was my destiny -- my parents used to tell me a story from before I was born. Mom & Dad were traveling somewhere [Mom was driving], and they came across a turtle migration -- they said there were hundreds of turtles crossing the road. I don't recall the details, but just that it was hilarious that Mom was trying to avoid as many as she could.....
 

j.w

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Funny story and I don't know your mom but I can envision it in my head :D
I had to rescue some when we were down in Louisiana one year. They have a hard time getting up the curbs and they get hit by cars as I'm sure you know. I couldn't just lift them off the road tho, I had to walk them through the long grass to a lake a ways off while hubby waited in the car. Thank goodness the gators didn't get me. Those big flat areas bashed down made me run back to the car after delivering the turtles to safety :eek:
 

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