Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Three's a charm


Three...three what...there is only one little turtle in this picture. Yeah but look closer...see something strange....YEAH...that's right, this little dude is missing his back right leg. Congenital, maybe but not likely. Probably got it bitten off from a bigger turtle, or perhaps a hawk. Good news, it's a back leg so he can just about function normally with just three. I had him for a few weeks, brought to me by someone who saw him crossing the road. Can you believe that someone in a car saw this cool little dude? Anyway, he was release right before the weather started to get cold so he could acclimate and hunker down for the winter. I observed him to check to make sure he was capable of taking care of himself. You should have seen how clever he was at "righting" himself if flipped on his back. That neck of his would turn that head upside down and he would flip himself back over. I sure hope that I see him again some day....nature is amazing in how they can adjust to a missing appendige. They do so much better than we humans. I can't even function if my finger hurts!