Just Curious, O/T - Box Turtle diet
 

Anne,

What happened with the box turtle? Did you find a rescue group, or let the
guy go off on his own?

I had a wild turtle that lived in my garden in Florida who had three legs,
but grew bigger every year, so obviously he thrived with three legs.
Presumably if food is plentiful, a missing leg is only important to protect
against predators. Mine was one of those nasty snapping turtles with a long
piggish snout, and he was not only big, but AGGRESSIVE. I literally had to
watch my, er, backside, when I squatted to weed the verbena bed, because he
was so fast even with three legs, and he WANTED a nice juicy chunk of me.

Thinking about your turtle reminded me, and now that I'm safe from him, I
can laugh about it. grin

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
.com...
Yesterday, I noticed a Box Turtle (I think that's what it was) next to one
of my raised beds. Actually, I nearly stepped on the poor guy, because I
wasn't expecting any surprises there!

The turtle seems to be missing one of its front legs. I don't know how
this
affects its ability to move around, it's apparent that the turtle uses its
front legs to pull off pieces of food to eat -- when I put down a few
slices of melon, it used one front foot to hold down the melon while
pulling
pieces off.

Anybody have any suggestions what I should do -- if anything -- to
help
this turtle out? I say "if anything" because I'd hate to see the turtle
become dependent upon my putting down food for it under the hedge. I'm
not
going to put it in a cage, nor am I going to relocate it if I can help it,
because right now it's safe from my own dogs (and other dogs), and there
are
lots of places for it to find cover.

Thanks,

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

Just Curious, O/T - Box Turtle diet
 

Since I initially posted my "turtle diet" question, I haven't seen the guy!

However, the few scraps (cucumber peels, etc.) that I put down all
disappeared. I tried to put the stuff in the same place each day, under my
really sad-looking & badly overgrown red-tip photinia hedge -- for all I
know, he's somewhere in the midst of the hedge.

In any event, his missing front leg did not seem to slow down his retreat,
and he may not even need it to hold down food in the wild, whereas I had
given him whole slices of melon.

In the meantime, he was a couple hundred feet from the nearest road, and out
of range of my dog's Invisible Fence and not likely to get into other fenced
yards, I figured he was best left as is.

I had to laugh about the dangers of squatting to weed the verbena bed,
because that brings back memories of my childhood! In addition to my
beloved Rhode Island Red hen Mabel, we had her sibling (Herman, I think) --
that was one *mean* rooster! I was only about 3, but the devil used to lie
in wait to attack when I was halfway between the house & the car (50-75
feet). Not surprisingly, none of us humans were all that upset when Herman
lost the fight he picked with our dog -- unlike the big hole in our family
when we lost Mabel years later.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh






"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message ...
Anne,

What happened with the box turtle? Did you find a rescue group, or let
the
guy go off on his own?

I had a wild turtle that lived in my garden in Florida who had three legs,
but grew bigger every year, so obviously he thrived with three legs.
Presumably if food is plentiful, a missing leg is only important to
protect
against predators. Mine was one of those nasty snapping turtles with a
long
piggish snout, and he was not only big, but AGGRESSIVE. I literally had
to
watch my, er, backside, when I squatted to weed the verbena bed, because
he
was so fast even with three legs, and he WANTED a nice juicy chunk of me.

Thinking about your turtle reminded me, and now that I'm safe from him, I
can laugh about it. grin

laurie (Mother Mastiff)

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
.com...
Yesterday, I noticed a Box Turtle (I think that's what it was) next to
one
of my raised beds. Actually, I nearly stepped on the poor guy, because
I
wasn't expecting any surprises there!

The turtle seems to be missing one of its front legs. I don't know how
this
affects its ability to move around, it's apparent that the turtle uses
its
front legs to pull off pieces of food to eat -- when I put down a few
slices of melon, it used one front foot to hold down the melon while
pulling
pieces off.

Anybody have any suggestions what I should do -- if anything -- to
help
this turtle out? I say "if anything" because I'd hate to see the turtle
become dependent upon my putting down food for it under the hedge. I'm
not
going to put it in a cage, nor am I going to relocate it if I can help
it,
because right now it's safe from my own dogs (and other dogs), and there
are
lots of places for it to find cover.

Thanks,

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh