Made it through our first official Hurricane on the
coast. Well, we were visiting family in Oklahoma so technically we
participated from afar.
Frankie, on the other hand, made it through his first
official Hurricane.
From afar, guiding caretakers on how to secure the sulcata
monster in a hurricane proved to be a challenge.
Frankie, geckos and cat had a morning Care-Taker, a mid-take
Checker, and a evening shift Care-Taker. Everyone had specific tasks from
petting cat, watering geckos, feeding box turtles, petting cat, and last but
not least, taking care of the 17 year old, 115 pound sulcata tortoise once
known as Frankie but currently going by the name of Monster, and petting
cat.
Of all the care instructions, Frankie's seemed simple:
Make sure he is in yard, keep water filled, and throw him a carrot every day.
Sounds very simple, right?
The day the Morning Care-Taker showed up for training she
did the unthinkable: she wore an orange shirt. The minute she stepped
out in yard Frankie pursued her like the Cookie Monster pursues cookies.
Reviewing care instructions while she dodged Frankie at
every step was challenging. She absolutely got why one THROWS the carrot
rather than attempting to hand feed Frankie the carrot.
(Everyone wants to hand feed the sulcata tortoise. He
has no interest in eating human fingers but a finger between him and the carrot
can result in one losing one's finger.)
All care takers were told: THROW THE CARROT.
The biggest challenge was making sure Frankie was in his
shelter during the hurricane. In his shelter is a sturdy wooden box that
would keep him safe. Get in the box, Frankie, just get in the box.
Early on, Frankie was annoyed enough by the rain to go into
his shelter. As Mid-Hurricane approached the Care-Taker followed
instructions and closed the main door and dropped the flap over Frankie's
smaller door.
Sometime after she left, Frankie decided it was too hot and
muggy to stay inside and pushed through his door flap.
When the next Care Taker returned later she found Frankie
sitting outside in the rain just before dark and hours before the peak of the
hurricane. The situation became tense.
Can one explain over the phone how to lift a 115 pound
sulcata tortoise during a hurricane and get him back inside his shelter? Ya' can't. Neither could I expect anyone to endanger themselves when they
should be home securing their own families.
Frankie had planted himself between the fence and the
shed. He would get rained on but he would not get flooded. There
were no dangerous trees that would fall on him. He chose wisely although
any choice to be outside in a hurricane I though was stupid.
Greg and I changed plans. We left Oklahoma six hours
earlier than planned, eliminated an overnight hotel stop, and drove straight
through.
The Hurricane turned out to be on the lower end of bad.
Thank goodness.
The Morning Care-Taker arrived to find Frankie still in the
same spot. He refused to move or un-tuck his head. Any attempt to
sooth or touch him resulted in an aggressive backward ram and hiss.
It took a carrot to get him to pull his head from behind his
legs. (The orange shirt would be useful in this situation)
The Care Taker called us (we were now in Mississippi) to
tell us he was alive but "very angry." She also said the cat
desperately needed us to get home.
We arrived late that evening. First stop, after
petting the cat, was backyard to check Frankie. He was in his shelter, in
his box but did not acknowledge me. A poke to his front foot confirmed
that he was very much alive. In the morning he was much the same: un-moving
and refusing to acknowledge me.
Time for a Wellness Test. A carrot dangling close to
his nose and a teasing "wanna treat, Frankie?" drew his head out
enough to see that he okay. He consumed the carrot in less than 20 second
confirming he was in good health.
Frankie emerged from his shelter a bit later and spent most
of the morning camped out by the backdoor. His plastic lawn chairs
(secured during the storm) were returned to the porch and he moved them
about until he was satisfied they were in their rightful place.
All considering, we emerged from our first hurricane in good
shape. Frankie braved the storm.
We did find something serious we overlooked. Even if
Frankie had decided he wanted back into his shelter later that night he could
not have gotten inside. The flap on his door allows for him to get out
but does not reverse direction to let him back inside. Something we have
to fix.
If we don't fix it Frankie Monster may just ram himself a
new door.
