Current Mood: Happy

This is Pokey, the three toed box turtle. We found him at my mother’s house (she has three acres of land next to the Meramec River) in her garage. He was one of her dog’s “pets,” as the dog likes to pick turtles up, carry them around, and herd them. This turtle was bitten by her other dog, he’s got a chunk of shell missing behind his head, but you can’t see it in this photo. We assume Pokey is a he because of the bright markings on his head; like most breeds, male turtles tend to be more colorful than females.

Normally we wouldn’t have captured a wild animal, but my son has really been wanting to have a pet (we had to give up a cat to get this house). Our lease doesn’t allow fur faces, so we’ve decided to get creative. Wee lad is also rambunctious and forgets to be gentle sometimes with critters (but he’s better than he used to be), so we figured that a turtle would be the perfect pet. We’ve instilled a healthy fear of turtle bite, so he doesn’t pick the turtle up too often, he just sits and watches, and makes sure it’s fed and has water. And for the record: I had a turtle when I was growing up, so I’m familiar with turtle care. And yes, we have Google.

Pokey is quite the escape artist, too! We’ve constructed a pen out of concrete bricks and landscape timber against our garage. We figured this area would be perfect for him, because it’s got soft soil, plenty of shade, lots of bugs and worms, and ivy for him to hide under. What we DIDN’T expect was that he would be able to climb the ivy to pull himself up and over the concrete block! He doesn’t go far; he’s generally just on the other side of his pen in the denser ivy. We need to construct a better pen and put it into this deeper ivy. Turtles like to hide, it makes them feel safe.

Here’s a picture of a happy boy and his turtle: