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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 |
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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 |
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