We have enjoyed an unusual sunny and mild winter this year. I have loved walking around my yard and checking out all the early growth. I have 5 places where my rhubarb is doing really well, so I decided to check the old bed, from where I relocated all the rhubarb to see if any was left.
The old, unsuccessful rhubarb patch was on the south side of the house, which can sometimes be a dumping ground for various objects and plants. It's where the mint beds are, as well as the asparagus. Plus, when the shell flew off the truck last year, it was set in the area for storage.
And that's where the mystery begins. As I looked over the past rhubarb bed, I noticed some wildlife between the truck shell and the old bed: a small tortoise, about 4 or 5 inches long, with brownish tones. I just stood there staring at it and thinking over how in the world it got there, or if I was hallucinating. It was just sitting there, not moving at all. I simply made a mental note and walked away.
Later I went to that side of the house and the space between the truck shell was empty. No tortoise. Whatever.
Several days later I went back to check it out, and, there was the tortoise again!! I tossed some pebbles at its shell and it moved its head slowly. Hmmm. "Where is that tortoise living??" I asked myself. "How did it come to be in our weedy side yard?" I did notice some disturbed soil nearby, but didn't really want to pursue the issue much further. Of course when I mentioned it all to Allan, he went to check it out, but it was gone.
A third time I went in search of the little tortoise and it wasn't in the usual spot--it had crossed the little stone path and made its way into an empty mint bed. That was quite a climb into that garden bed!! As I walked back to the house I thought I might ask the neighbor boy across the street if he knew anything about it, but I didn't have the energy. Later Allan went around to check it out, and the little thing was still in the mint bed. Allan DID ask the neighbor boy, Zach, if he knew anything about a small tortoise that we have in our yard. He hung his head a bit. "We lost one last summer." Zach went over to get his mom and dad, and his mother was overjoyed to have her Russian tortoise returned.
Here is what Zach's mom Rachel said: "I let them out from the backyard to the front yard (there were 3) to enjoy some dandelions in the grass and when I turned around this one had run away!!!" (We've been laughing about the runaway tortoise ever since.)
In finding photos of these I have learned that the Russian tortoises (Testudo [Agrioemys] horsefieldii) love to eat broad-leafed weeds; they don't need much water; they hibernate for much of the year in the wild; "adept at digging to escape; hide in objects and burrow into substrate (according to Petco fact sheet);" great roamers.I think it may have been very happy in our weedy, dry, dirt-filled, protected-by-the-truck-shell, spacious side-garden area. This type of tortoise was also the first animal to leave the earth's orbit in the 1968 Soviet Zond 5 mission. Who knew?!
Can you finish this riddle? Why did the Russian tortoise cross the road??
The old, unsuccessful rhubarb patch was on the south side of the house, which can sometimes be a dumping ground for various objects and plants. It's where the mint beds are, as well as the asparagus. Plus, when the shell flew off the truck last year, it was set in the area for storage.
And that's where the mystery begins. As I looked over the past rhubarb bed, I noticed some wildlife between the truck shell and the old bed: a small tortoise, about 4 or 5 inches long, with brownish tones. I just stood there staring at it and thinking over how in the world it got there, or if I was hallucinating. It was just sitting there, not moving at all. I simply made a mental note and walked away.
Later I went to that side of the house and the space between the truck shell was empty. No tortoise. Whatever.
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| Thanks flickr and margaretglin for the photo. |
A third time I went in search of the little tortoise and it wasn't in the usual spot--it had crossed the little stone path and made its way into an empty mint bed. That was quite a climb into that garden bed!! As I walked back to the house I thought I might ask the neighbor boy across the street if he knew anything about it, but I didn't have the energy. Later Allan went around to check it out, and the little thing was still in the mint bed. Allan DID ask the neighbor boy, Zach, if he knew anything about a small tortoise that we have in our yard. He hung his head a bit. "We lost one last summer." Zach went over to get his mom and dad, and his mother was overjoyed to have her Russian tortoise returned.
Here is what Zach's mom Rachel said: "I let them out from the backyard to the front yard (there were 3) to enjoy some dandelions in the grass and when I turned around this one had run away!!!" (We've been laughing about the runaway tortoise ever since.)
In finding photos of these I have learned that the Russian tortoises (Testudo [Agrioemys] horsefieldii) love to eat broad-leafed weeds; they don't need much water; they hibernate for much of the year in the wild; "adept at digging to escape; hide in objects and burrow into substrate (according to Petco fact sheet);" great roamers.I think it may have been very happy in our weedy, dry, dirt-filled, protected-by-the-truck-shell, spacious side-garden area. This type of tortoise was also the first animal to leave the earth's orbit in the 1968 Soviet Zond 5 mission. Who knew?!
Can you finish this riddle? Why did the Russian tortoise cross the road??
