Turtle alert,” my spouse called as she gazed the kitchen window to report movement inside our backyard.” Sloth on my own part will begat another, sharper claxon call, “Turtle alert!” Should I foolishly neglect the call because I am at some important function (such as a video game), she repeats the alert louder and rapidly to seem like “turd alert.” The same thing happened with Hodor, a Game of Thrones character who sometimes got excited and repeated that she would keep a door closed.
Sure enough, a fair-sized terrapin turtle, with lozenge-shaped burnt orange marks on his shell, patrolled our lawn. Ever-so-often, he craned his neck to achieve more range to guide his search for the elusive mushroom, a patio delicacy that they craves. However, the light and steady rain will transform this armored gourmet into “stud turtle.” We can only speculate that rain acts just as one aphrodisiac within our terrapins. More of them leave the woods to play within our backyard during the light rain, therefore we get to understand the purpose of nature since the males comically mount the females.
Likely, on sunny days, we merely see male terrapins. Anything but social then, they become though they defend territory on those times, or they respond to a perceived theft of property. “Hey, that other turtle ate my mushroom!” Rarely would they fight. The larger ones will run with the smaller ones, who quickly haul it within a different direction. However, on rare occasions, two large turtles will engage in the staring contest. Their proximity seems to be a measure of resolve. Their art of war: serious staring, serious not enough movement, and also the tension via a flight enters the home to affect my spouse.
“What could they be doing now?” she fidgets throughout a Hallmark Romance chick flick. Unable to enjoy her show, she wears about the carpet to collect more turtle reports. Sometimes the turtle war of stares lasts for hours before some restructure of territory usually occur. Then, we percieve each of the big guys patrol different turf in this backyard… unless a mushroom is important.
Our terrapins are pleased additions to our backyard animal visitors, that also include squirrels, rabbits, moles, the sporadic red-tailed hawk, a deer, and the majority rarely, a wild turkey. At night, different animals begin their shift: raccoons, foxes, possums, and owls. But our alert about seeing the other wildlife, “I see nature,” may seem to imply that the terrapin turtles employ a special place inside our lives.