Summer of Death

I am not sure why, but this summer we bought a small mud turtle (baby) and a month later it died. Then we bought his replacement (Shelby II) and a month later he died. Then a mud turtle that I had bought as a baby but which was now about three years old also died. It was about three inches long when it died. Hopefully there are swamps and rivers and lakes in Heaven, and turtles, fish, and alligators (not to mention dogs and NFL Football). Do you think animals and beloved pets have an afterlife? It is kind of sad when our pets die. Even a little reptile can have a lot of personality.

Visit to the Everglades in July

The Everglades in July are hot. The mosquitoes are flying around in swarms. These are big fat mosquitoes, not the skinny tiny ones that are usually in South Florida.

You can feel these mosquitoes when they fly into your arms and legs. Even worse are some big green flies that are about an inch long and they buzz people too. The dragonflies are about four inches long and thick. I am not sure if the bite, but they feel sharp when they fly into a body.
There was a large softshell turtle sunning itself by the third visitor's area. The turtle had a very deep brownish green color. The turtle looked so alive and happy to be there. I felt very privileged to be there that day.

The softshell turtle was at least three feet long about about two feet wide. It looked very healthy and as I got closer to it the turtle looked at me and actually walked towards me. I wonder if it had gotten in the habit of getting treats from visitors. I did not have any food, I wonder what it would want to eat? Certainly the Repto-Min pellets are too tiny. I guess I could have brought along a pail full of shiners from the Bait Store (or as the Three Stooges used to say: "If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake.")

After the softshell turtle had been walking around for a few minutes it stopped and some big bugs flew on its shell. I was wondering if the bugs were eating parasites or algae. I am not sure what they were. They looked like big Palmetto bugs (roaches), but maybe they were dragonflies? The bugs looked like something out of a science fiction horror movie, and I was not interested in getting close enough to find out. By then the mosquitoes had started biting us to bits anyway, and we wanted to get back into the car and air-conditioning.
Lots of Gators in the 'Glades

Map Turtle

I have a Map Turtle that was purchased as a small baby (for educational purposes) and is now about five inches long. The serrated scales on the side of the shell are pretty cool. The Turtle also has a highly detailed skin featuring yellow stripes on her dark green skin. After the Mud Turtle died, we wanted to get another friend for the little red-ear slider. Small Mud & Musk Turtles are rarely available in the average Reptile store, and especially in the Fall months. So we found a baby Map Turtle, and he is getting along fine with the baby Red-Ear and the small Musk Turtle. One big happy family. That is a great thing about turtles. They usually get along very well, and they seem to live in harmony except when they are trying to get the same piece of food. They climb on each other to bask in the sunlight, and they do not seem to have any major hang-ups!

Little Snapping Turtle & Slider

These two eventually got pretty big back in the 1990s