RIP, Little Turtle
I've been a little busy with the whole moving thing. But I have to share a sad story. You must, after reading this story, immediately head on over to Cute Overload, I Can Has Cheezburger?, or I Has A Hot Dog to be reminded of the good in this world. Because what happened the other day was just sad.
My husband and I were on our way back from some errand on Monday or Tuesday, and we saw a turtle on the road. When I was a little girl, my dad used to rescue turtles in similar situations, bring them home, let us play with them, and then we would go set them free somewhere safer, like near a little creek or pond or something like that. I saw the little turtle, and told my husband I wanted to go rescue it. Unfortunately, I was driving. So, we pulled the car over a little bit ahead of the turtle, I jumped out and ran back to save him, and my husband would pull a U-turn at the nearest light and come back to pick up the turtle and me. And then we would take him over to see dad, then drive down to the lake and set the turtle free. It was going to be awesome. I was going to save the little turtle's life and be its tall, strange hero.
Well, I got to the turtle, and its face was covered in blood. I remember thinking that I didn't know turtles had red blood. I don't know WHY I thought that, but I did. Anyway, that was the first big danger sign. But I rushed to it thinking illogically about a trip to the animal hospital and still possibly being able to save the poor little guy. I got to him and picked him up, and he tried to pull into his shell, because he was afraid of me (quite as he should have been, he didn't know I was trying to save him). When he retreated into his mobile home, one of his legs didn't go in. And I realized that it was broken and shattered and there was exposed tissue hanging out of it. It was literally only attached by skin. And I started to cry. I held his little foot up so it wouldn't dangle and I tried to decide what to do.
Standing in the middle of the road, I'm holding a nearly-dead turtle and crying like an idiot. A car came around the corner, and I figured it was time to get off the road. So I jumped into the median, and thought I should put him down so he wouldn't be so scared while we waited for my husband. I was still thinking that we could get him to the vet, and if the vets could save him, if they had to amputate his ruined leg, we could take him home and keep him still. I could get an aquarium and I could still be the little guy's hero. I said something about "it's gonna be ok" and I'm not sure who I was trying to reassure. Most probably myself, as I doubt the turtle spoke English. I put the little turtle down, and he tried to come out of his shell. His head made it about half-way, and I saw that not only was his leg ruined but so was one of his eyes. And just as I realize there is no way to save the turtle's life, he died. He just stopped moving.
At this point, I can barely contain sobs, and I just stood there, not knowing what I should do with him. I finally decided to leave him on median, but I put him underneath a little bush so at least the crows wouldn't be picking at him. Stupid, because the crows could go UNDER the bush, I know. But I wasn't exactly rational. I stood waiting for my husband to come back, trying to keep it together. I wasn't entirely successful.
About 30 seconds later, my husband comes back and picks me up. I get in the car and collapse into sobs.
Look, I know that it was just a turtle. It wasn't self-aware. It wasn't sentient. It wasn't all that important. But it was a living thing whose life was snuffed out because some jackass zooming along in his car ran him over, probably didn't even NOTICE that he condemned a living thing to a slow and painful death, and zoomed along on his merry way. That just doesn't seem right to me. I mean, if it's a choice between running over an animal or causing an accident that could hurt a person, of course you have to choose not to injure the person, but I doubt the jerk who ran him over couldn't have avoided it. I watched several people avoid hitting the turtle on my way back to pick him up. It wasn't necessary. It was an impersonal cruelty. And I don't think that little creature should have had to die like that. Call me a wuss, call me overly sentimental, I don't care. I just think that if we took a little more care, and were a little more aware of how easily we can destroy life, we would be better people and it wouldn't happen as often. I don't think that carelessly squishing small animals is good stewardship of the planet.
My husband and I were on our way back from some errand on Monday or Tuesday, and we saw a turtle on the road. When I was a little girl, my dad used to rescue turtles in similar situations, bring them home, let us play with them, and then we would go set them free somewhere safer, like near a little creek or pond or something like that. I saw the little turtle, and told my husband I wanted to go rescue it. Unfortunately, I was driving. So, we pulled the car over a little bit ahead of the turtle, I jumped out and ran back to save him, and my husband would pull a U-turn at the nearest light and come back to pick up the turtle and me. And then we would take him over to see dad, then drive down to the lake and set the turtle free. It was going to be awesome. I was going to save the little turtle's life and be its tall, strange hero.
Well, I got to the turtle, and its face was covered in blood. I remember thinking that I didn't know turtles had red blood. I don't know WHY I thought that, but I did. Anyway, that was the first big danger sign. But I rushed to it thinking illogically about a trip to the animal hospital and still possibly being able to save the poor little guy. I got to him and picked him up, and he tried to pull into his shell, because he was afraid of me (quite as he should have been, he didn't know I was trying to save him). When he retreated into his mobile home, one of his legs didn't go in. And I realized that it was broken and shattered and there was exposed tissue hanging out of it. It was literally only attached by skin. And I started to cry. I held his little foot up so it wouldn't dangle and I tried to decide what to do.
Standing in the middle of the road, I'm holding a nearly-dead turtle and crying like an idiot. A car came around the corner, and I figured it was time to get off the road. So I jumped into the median, and thought I should put him down so he wouldn't be so scared while we waited for my husband. I was still thinking that we could get him to the vet, and if the vets could save him, if they had to amputate his ruined leg, we could take him home and keep him still. I could get an aquarium and I could still be the little guy's hero. I said something about "it's gonna be ok" and I'm not sure who I was trying to reassure. Most probably myself, as I doubt the turtle spoke English. I put the little turtle down, and he tried to come out of his shell. His head made it about half-way, and I saw that not only was his leg ruined but so was one of his eyes. And just as I realize there is no way to save the turtle's life, he died. He just stopped moving.
At this point, I can barely contain sobs, and I just stood there, not knowing what I should do with him. I finally decided to leave him on median, but I put him underneath a little bush so at least the crows wouldn't be picking at him. Stupid, because the crows could go UNDER the bush, I know. But I wasn't exactly rational. I stood waiting for my husband to come back, trying to keep it together. I wasn't entirely successful.
About 30 seconds later, my husband comes back and picks me up. I get in the car and collapse into sobs.
Look, I know that it was just a turtle. It wasn't self-aware. It wasn't sentient. It wasn't all that important. But it was a living thing whose life was snuffed out because some jackass zooming along in his car ran him over, probably didn't even NOTICE that he condemned a living thing to a slow and painful death, and zoomed along on his merry way. That just doesn't seem right to me. I mean, if it's a choice between running over an animal or causing an accident that could hurt a person, of course you have to choose not to injure the person, but I doubt the jerk who ran him over couldn't have avoided it. I watched several people avoid hitting the turtle on my way back to pick him up. It wasn't necessary. It was an impersonal cruelty. And I don't think that little creature should have had to die like that. Call me a wuss, call me overly sentimental, I don't care. I just think that if we took a little more care, and were a little more aware of how easily we can destroy life, we would be better people and it wouldn't happen as often. I don't think that carelessly squishing small animals is good stewardship of the planet.