Happy Ending for Tortoise

It's always nice to have a happy ending to a story, and here is ours. The sulcata tortoise who appeared in a ditch at the Preserve this week has officially been named Radar because of the pink flag we put on her back so she won't get lost again. Although Buddy Freckles did not like her walking around his kitchen at first, they have become tolerant of each other.

Mike and Radar

Our calls to the Kentucky Herpetological Society were answered by one Mike Connor, an officer of the  Society who rescues snakes and turtles. He is our hero, since he does this out of the kindness of his heart. He already has three sulcata tortoises, so Radar will be joining a family.

Alfred, Althea, Radar and Tulip

In fact, Radar not only found a new home and new family, she learned to speak English and type to send emails, all in one day!  Here is the message we received from her:

Hi everyone, thanks for all your help finding me a new home. I just got unpacked and met my new family. Dad, Alfred is little ruff around the edges and thinks I need some sun to put some color in my shell but I think we’ll be getting along. Mom, Althea is cool! Not much on conversation but she knows the best grasses to munch on and I have a little sister named Tulip. It’s going to be fun being a big sister.

Terrapin Station

We live in a place called Terrapin Station. I don’t know what a terrapin is. It must be like a tortoise. Mom said it’s named after some Thankful Dead people’s song. There is also this big green and white thing I was told it’s a pond for people. People are weird. Anyway got to go, supper is growing. I’m sending some pictures.

The family portrait gives you a good idea of the size these animals can get, but I bet they'll grow even larger before they are through. Radar does look a little pale compared to the others, but with good care and sunshine, she'll do well.

Alfred

Radar asks a good question though.  What is the difference between  turtle, terrapin and tortoise?  According to PetEducation.com, if it has a shell and is a reptile, then it is going to fall into the order Chelonia, which includes 244 different species. For most Americans, the term 'turtle' describes the Chelonians that are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The term 'tortoise' describes a Chelonian that lives primarily on land. 'Terrapin' can describe some freshwater or saltwater turtles, but is a term not often used. In general, tortoises live on land and eat a primarily vegetarian diet, and turtles live in or near the water and eat a meat-based diet or a combination of meat and vegetation. Scientists believe that turtles first appeared during the Triassic era, making them as old as the dinosaurs!


Best wishes to Radar in her new home!

Naturally yours,

~denapple

News on the Tortoise

One of the herpetologist contacted yesterday says that this is a sulcata tortoise from northern Africa. Obvious it was acquired as an exotic pet, and either escaped or was released at the Nature Preserve. Once again, the Internet is a wealth of information, particularly http://www.sulcata-station.org/ and http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html.  Here is the best advice:

Please, do your research before you bring home a sulcata tortoise. Like most exotics, these are not easily-kept pets. These tortoises get VERY large, VERY quickly, and they can live well over 50 years. They DO NOT hibernate in winter so you must keep them warm, feed them, and clean up after them year-around.

Reptile rescue organizations nationwide are overwhelmed with rescued sulcata tortoises. If you don't plan to keep the tortoise forever, don't get it in the first place.

Sulcata tortoises evolved in the semi-arid regions of Africa just south of the Sahara Desert. Their digestive tracts have evolved to handle low-nutrient, high-fiber foods like dry grasses and weeds, which are the only sources of nutrition for much of the year in that region. The best way to feed a tortoise is to provide it with a safely-enclosed yard or pen where it can graze on a variety of grasses, grass hay, and certain safe edible weeds like dandelion, plantain, and chickweed. Upon realizing this, many new tortoise owners freak out and reply, "But we live in (somewhere with cold and snowy winters) and it's impossible to let him out to graze!" Specimens can easily reach 24 - 30 inches long, weigh 80 - 100 pounds, and live to be fifty years old.

Since it's the middle of summer, we let her go out in the fenced back yard today, and you can see how she enjoys eating grass in the warm sunshine. David fastened a pink flag around her shell so we can find her when she wanders off.  We have not determined who she belongs to yet. However, the Kentucky Herpetological Society meets next week, and we hope to get some advice from them. They do work to find homes for reptiles that have been abandoned by their owners.

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Mystery Tortoise

At today's summer camp session, David Wheeler, one of our top-notch groundskeepers and knowledgeable about almost everything, walked up to the campers with a large tortoise in his hands. We are in the process of laying water lines in various places around the grounds, and David found it trapped in the ditch, unable to climb out.  "It's a gopher tortoise," David announced confidently.

We all examined it carefully, taking photos, and watched it move through the grass when we put it on the ground. You expect turtles and tortoises to be slow animals, but this one is a real speedster, especially since it just wanted to escape from us.

The front legs look like flippers at first, but closer examination shows sharp nails, and extra edges useful for digging, while the back legs resemble elephant legs and feet.

The bottom of the shell, called a "plastron" was smooth and flat, so this one is a female.  The male's plastron is concave, so it can climb up on the female's back for breeding without tipping off. Look at the distinct, almost rectangular markings.

She seems to have a hook on her mouth that looks like fangs, but I don't think there is such a thing as a vampire tortoise!  All through the examination, she moved her legs, trying to get away from us. David washed the mud off with a hose, and released her in our fenced in yard behind Mahan Manor, and 15 minutes later, I was unable to find her.

The Internet is the first place to research a new animal before putting a post on the blog, right?  Gopher tortoises are native to Florida, and other states in the far south, and they are actually on the endangered species list!  Wait a minute.  What would one be doing in Oldham County, Kentucky???  If someone had it illegally and released it, we shouldn't just let it crawl off on the preserve.  We don't have the right habitat for it, and how could it possibly survive a Kentucky winter?  David found her again, and we put her in a box for a more thorough identification. 

In fact, one of our volunteers, David Singewald, is a marine biologist, so we put him on the job.  (And he thought we only wanted him to mow the grass!)  Photos of our mystery tortoise are on their way to herpetologists around the country. If, in fact, this is an endangered gopher tortoise, we need to get it to the proper authorities so it can be placed in the right habitat.  So stay tuned.  We'll let you know as we learn anything more about her.

Naturally yours,

~denapple