Operation Save Turtle
tonight while biking home a car and i almost hit a poor turtle who was wandering across a little road near my apartment. actually, the car almost ran the poor thing over (i don't think the driver even saw it, it was just a lucky miss) and then i didn't see it until it came out of its shell and started hauling turtle ass, which was like 2ft from my front tire. just after passing it i stopped and decided to go back and see if they car really had missed it... poor thing was at a loss having finally made it to the other side of the road to be met with a cement wall in front of him and an electricity pole to his left. suddenly i was reminded of a lost turtle that i'd come across on a grassy hill near my apartment on the 26th of may...
at that time i'd wondered how the hell the turtle had gotten there and considered trying to help it, but i was in a hurry and it gave me a look that said "go away" so i took a photo with my cellphone, wished it luck and was on my way.
there's no way that that turtle 3 weeks ago could be the same turtle that i found tonight is there....?? the distance between the two places isnt really that far, but for a turtle i'd imagine it'd be worlds apart... the turtle tonight was extremely dusty and obviously hadn't seen water (rain aside) for some time.... could this turtle really have been wandering around my neighborhood for 3 weeks????
all this ran through my head and suddenly i regretted not having done anything for the turtle that i'd met 3 weeks ago, whether it be the same turtle or not. the many squashed little crabs (yes, crabs) that i've come across around my neighborhood also came to mind.... needless to say, i felt i had to do something for this turtle, so i picked it up and put it in my bike's basket.
i walked the bike to the closest of two waterway-things near my apartment where i often see lots of turtles, assuming that that's where he'd originally came from. i wandered along it until i found a place where i could get to the water to release him and as soon as i did and picked him up, he started kicking where as he had just hid in his shell the entire time before. kneeling and reaching down as close to the water as i could, i dropped him in. interestingly, he didn't swim away immediately but instead stayed there and looked at me.... it was such a cute moment.... D; i would have photowhored it had it not been so dark and had bugs not been trying to eat me alive.
i still have no idea how he could have gotten out of the waterway in the first place as even the place that i dropped him off at had several steps.... either way, i hope he'll be less adventurous from now on. ^^;