Herbert

Herbert is my turtle that was given to me back in 1998. He's a chinese box turtle or an ornate box turtle, it's hard to say. I didn't know for the longest time if he was male or female but it didn't matter because from the second they placed that huge aquarium on my desk with that quarter sized turtle I knew his name was Herbert. I finally determined that he was male from the way his shell is curved on the bottom and his red eyes. He was a happy turtle for many years but eventually became angry. I guess I would be angry if I was locked away, too. The last couple years I've kept his glass covered because I also learned that if they can see through it, they think they can get there. That would explain the chipped top right side of his beak. A month or so ago I had him out with JT and we were playing on the deck. JT tried to feed him a piece of something and he got bit on the finger. I had never been bit but he'd come close several times. My winning streak came to an end several weeks ago when I was putting his water bowl back in and he bit my forearm. I still bear the triangle mark of his beak. And trust me when I tell you that it hurts. You can't pry the jaw open so it's a matter of trying not to rip him off your arm (flesh and all) while you wait for him to discover you don't taste so good. Kevin and I got to talking about building him an outside area to live in but always came back to the fact that he's still in an enclosure. We have that giant pond up front with plenty of worms and crickets and rocks and grass and all the fun stuff that turtles like to eat. I battled internally about setting him free and equating that with people that get exotic pets and then just set them loose because they've become too much of a problem or trouble for them. That wasn't the case with Herbert - I really think he wanted to be out. Anytime we'd take him out of his cage and let him run around he'd stretch his neck, stand up tall on his legs (weird, I know) and look all around. He was fast, too. Don't believe the hype that turtles are slow. I have witnesses to prove his speed. Herbert also loved Kitty Princess. He would walk over to her, she would lay down and let him come over to her. It was a strange relationship but a beautiful one just the same. Last weekend I took Herbert out for some R&R in the front yard to get him used to the idea of being outside more. He took to burying himself under the tall grass by the fire pit and trying to catch up with Kitty Princess. Kody wasn't as willing or friendly and gave a stern bark to which Herbert listened to - stuck his head back in his shell until Kody moved off. Herbert kept trying to go towards the driveway so I moved him closer to the pond. The frogs all yelped as they jumped in and Herbert lifted his head to listen. He walked closer then took shelter in the grown up grass around one of the plants. I heard JT yelling as he went running the other direction so I had to make a choice - find the turtle or follow the kid. I made the smarter decision and took off after JT. By the time we made it back 15 minutes later I couldn't find him. I'm quite certain that Herbert has found himself a nice little home among the lily pads and the shore of the pond and he's going to be just fine. And if not, he's got Kitty Princess to protect him. Happy Free Living, Herbert - hope it's everything you always wanted.