2018-05-23

World Turtle Day 2018

Every now and then I encounter a turtle or a tortoise. The last episode involved two adult sliders I caught on Hendrix Street over by my house fairly early one Saturday morning.

I placed them in my back yard and never saw them again. Before that I found a young box tortoise over at my dad's place over in Briarwood a couple years back. This one I also released in my yard never again to be seen.

I hope they're still out and about doing turtle things at their own speed nearby ...

    hermann's tortoise juvenile - Testudo hermanni
It's part of that penance I do for being such a cruel child. I would sometimes mistreat little animals — perhaps because I felt that I was bigger and stronger I suppose ... I don't really know what I was thinking when I reflect on those times now in my old age.

So now, if I encounter one it has the right of way as far as I am concerned. I let them exist where they are and attempt not to disturb them unless they are in peril such as on the road in front of my house or somewhere similar.

Today is World Turtle Day. It is a celebration of turtles and tortoises, started under the auspices of American Tortoise Rescue to increase attention to, and respect and knowledge of turtles and tortoises. The desired end of World Turtle Day is the promotion of human action aimed at helping them survive and thrive in the world.

It is celebrated worldwide in various ways from dressing in green, turtle rescue operations on highways and at the seashore, research activities, craft projects, and lesson plans in classrooms.