I found a baby turtle in my pool this morning. I guess he got confused as to where he should be swimming, but this was not the place for him. He couldn’t get out. And he looked very tired. So I saved him.
Turtle saved from pool
And my daughter named him Doug. Doug is great turtle name, don’t you think?
And he was grateful to be saved. Want to know how I know? He smiled at me! With his shell too!!
Big, Goofy Grin
So, I took him for a walk to the end of the property to put him back in the canal. And he started to come out of his shell… (see what I did there?)
His head started to peek out…
And then he got braver…
He started to walk around my hand.
A few times, I had to keep him from jumping. I think he was just excited. Not scared at all of the big creature that was holding him, high in the air, and showing him to little kids and dogs. Nope, not that at all.
Finally made it down to the canal, where I was going to let him go.
Can’t you just hear him saying – “No, don’t put me in there!!”?
Awww… isn’t his tail the cutest thing ever?!
That tail is too freakin’ adorable!!
But then I saw my neighbor, and she wanted to see him. Of course, she fell in love with Doug too. He is quite the cute little guy, after all. She said that she could put him in her little pond, so she took him there, instead of the big, bad, scary canal 🙂
Yay! Doug has a new home in my neighbor’s pond!
Bye, Doug! We will miss you.
Have you saved any animals lately?
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove says
OMG!!! That is seriously the cutest little turtle ever! And the colors of it’s shell are sooo inspiring! Can you imagine that in decor!?!?
Christi says
I will have to admit.. he is sooo cute 🙂 lol
Jen @ Four Marrs & One Venus says
Adorable Story! So Fun..what a great start to the weekend- sweet Doug!
Nancy K. (and HERO) says
You are a HERO! At least to Doug ~ the world’s CUTEST turtle!
Now, go forth and RESCUE…
eskmom says
Yay, Doug! He is so cute and I love that tail too!! And how lucky that you can visit him.
My 3 boys (10, 13 and 14) are always bringing some aquatic pet home. Last year they found about 9 snapping turtle babies in the stream near our home after a storm last June, which is QUITE uncommon for our little trickle of water. Of course, they wanted to adopt them.
Whenever they want to ‘adopt’ a pet, they have to research them and present the facts of why we should adopt them. (They still haven’t realized my educational drive behind this requirement… their brains turn to mush otherwise) We did care for them for the summer, but they got tired of changing the water everyday and finding food for them; plus they knew that soon enough they would be taking fingers off. (When most searches started their information with “You have decided to adopt a challenging pet…” I knew this would be interesting.) They were fun to watch tho bc if you put your finger near them on the outside of the tank, they would dart over and try to bite our fingers (hence my ‘no playing with them’ rule after a month or so. :))
So when they were ready to return them to the wild, we really didn’t want to put them back into the water that my kids wade in nearly everyday to find something new to learn. So, we ended up googling a nice, quiet stream that fed into a lake that we had never been to, and let them go. We took pictures and watched them eventually all swim out together and rest on a log. It was actually pretty cool. Then we celebrated with a hike and a picnic for the rest of the day.
They still talk about the turtles and the toads we kept after them, until the weather started to turn in the fall, and the ‘Northern Hogsucker’ they caught… that one wasn’t so successful – they learned right away that bottom feeder fish gasping for air at the top of the tank probably should stay in his natural habitat. He did get returned quickly.
Some of my friends think I am nuts letting them bring them home, but they not only teach my kids something educational, something compassionate, but just think of the memories they are making. That is greater than any stink or freaky looking animal in my house. (Did I mention that we currently have 4 year old beach vacation hermit crabs that WONT DIE??! , 2 newts, 4 fish tanks – one of which is a 60 gallon one with sharks that my 14 year old saved his money for– We only have one dog, tho. She is high maintenance enough. :))
I am glad that I found your site and hope your blog and Doug continues to grow.
eskmom says
wow! That is longer than your blog post! LOL
A Pinterest Addict says
I think it’s awesome that you let your boys bring them home – especially since you make them do it with open eyes and knowledge. I’m always rescuing something, but the turtle will definitely do better in a pond 🙂 Thanks for the awesome comment. It’s comments like yours that make me love writing this blog :p
eskmom says
aw, thanks! I know it is probably a lot of work at times. Keep them coming. I enjoy yours and your fun outlook.
A Pinterest Addict says
I got such a kick out of that, too! I am going to have to catch another to see if they all have smiley faces on their shells. I never took notice of it before.
Aline McKay says
We have 2 Red-eared slider turtles that my husband took from our pool, and yours looks to be the same. We are raising them because when we got them they were about the size of a quarter and I didn’t have the heart to release them into the unknown. Bill and Oliver have grown so much since we’ve had them and I keep saying that I will release them into a pond with other turtles but my grand-kids yell no, don’t, so we still have them. They require a lot of care, who knew turtles were so much trouble, but I keep doing it and the grand-kids keep loving it. I hope my husband doesn’t find another!
Lori says
What an adorable turtle! Is that possible? I love Doug!
A Pinterest Addict says
He was pretty cute – for a turtle 🙂 I wonder if he will keep that pattern on his shell as he grows?
Annie says
My boys and I saved a bunch of earthworms after a rain storm…they were all over the driveway and were going to die when the sun came out. It was quite icky for me, and I wasn’t even sure they would survive since they had already looked beat…we plopped them in some dirt and they barely moved. But the next day, we celebrated when they were all gone…assuming they burrowed back underground. Now that I think about it, maybe the birds got them. Either way, your turtle definitely makes for cuter pics!