Yard Wanderings

Of course I have not added anything to my blog - the turtles and I have been outside!!! Almost every day has been warm enough for all the turtles, sulcata & box & spider, to go outside. Frankie is so happy. He spends so much of the day just walking around his very big back yard.

I have put up a temporary fence within the yard that basically triples the space for the box turtles. No longer are they confined to under the patio, but now they have open grassy area. They hardly go under the patio anymore.

Mattie goes into the box turtle area. While the box turtles are cozy up under straw, leaves or such, Mattie is out in the open basking and eating clover. She also delights in her new area. No more big Frankie to walk over her.

I have been cleaning the area in the yard that had remained untouched during construction. There are so many bushes, trees, vines, etc. that one can hardly walk through. My goal is to have it cleaned out enough to allow Frankie to safely pass through without getting caught up.

Oh, there are wild blackberry bushes. They do have thorns, but they put out an abundant amount of berries that the turtles love. Keeping those for the turtles.

Guess what the rain brought up!

No sign at all on Mattie's whereabouts since Tuesday. I spent most of today and yesterday putting out "Lost Turtle & Reward" signs all over the neighborhood, veterinarian offices in the area, school area bus stops, and the police station. The weather had been above 50 degrees each night that she was out, but tonight we were expecting big storms, temperature drops, winds and rain. That was good and bad news. If the storm forced Mattie out of hiding, then I figured that maybe I would find her. If I could not find her, that meant illness for sure. If the weather got too bad then I could not get out to look.

The storm was pretty bad -- 50 mph winds with heavy rains that only Alabama can produce. Electricity in the house went out at 6:00 p.m. Things got a little better at 7:00 or so, so I put on boots, a rain slicker and went out looking for her. In the last place I expected her - our backyard where she should not have gotten into -- she was standing out in the rain by the trees, in the open. She was so cold to the touch. I ran her inside to Greg, who was ecstatic, and he warmed her up in his hands.

She is back home in time for the first hibiscus flower of the season.

Missing Tortoise

I regret to say that Mattie, our Madagascar Spider Tortoise, is missing.

She went outside yesterday to sun and eat grass around 11:00 in the morning. At 3:00 in the afternoon, when I went to fetch her and Frankie, Mattie was not in her area.

Her area seemed secure but I found a depression under a fence where rain may have eroded an area that she could have gotten out. It is possible that dogs or a person found her and removed her although, while inside the house, I didn't hear any commotion (the neighbor's dogs go nuts if any stay dogs run around the neighborhood).

Greg came home early from work and we search for her until dark. Found nothing. This morning I searched the garage in the unlikely even that she leapt from top of her brick wall and crawled into the garage (we are thinking of any possibility). I have made up "lost" posters and will begin canvassing the neighborhood in hope that more eyes may spot her somewhere.

Last year this time, Frankie was lost and on day two we got a call due to our "Lost & Reward" posters. He was found miles away where a good Samaritan thought such a big turtle (sulcata) need to live near a big pond.

Mattie is so much smaller at 7 inches, but we are hopeful.