and baby makes 6!

Myrtle and Nurtle hate raccoons

One morning last week I woke up at 5:45 to let the dog out and noticed that all was not right on the back porch.

Let me back up a bit. A couple of months ago, we rescued some newborn water turtles from death by heron. I was out for a run, and the herons were going to town snacking on these tiny turtles. I rescued 4 of them and brought them home to the kids. In the end, we built a small pond on the porch to house them until they got a bit bigger and we could release them in the big pond at the park.

We have enjoyed them so much. The word adorable did not do them justice. They were precious. They would swim to the side of the pond and wait for me to feed them, and would stretch their little necks out and allow us to pet them. We all loved watching them swim around in the pond and basking in the sun. We called them our babies, and adored them.

That morning, however, as my eyes adjusted to the bright light of the back porch, my mind started to register what had happened. There were little, water paw prints everywhere, and the pond lily was torn to shreds. The pond was still and silent. Raccoons had raided it moments before and taken all of our babies…..our sweet little turtle babies.

I think everything finally caught up with me (Bills dad being sick, Ike etc) and that was the straw that broke the camels back. I cried like crazy as I searched the backyard with a flashlight, cursing the raccoons (little bastads). I DREADED telling the kids what happened. How was I going to tell them that raccoons ate their “babies”? (do…not…laugh)

When Mia woke up, I lightened it up a bit and told her that they probably got away by crawling into the grass and hiding. Bill later came to me and said “She is no idiot Jody. She just told me that she wished she could shoot the raccoons with a BB gun and get her babies out of their tummies.” Nice. At least she doesn’t spit and scratch her crotch.

We did take the opportunity to teach about nature and how animals do what they do to survive etc…blah blah blah. You know, even though we rescued them from being a heron meal, they still became someones meal. Karma exists in the animal world, no? Still, she and Quinn will never look at raccoons in the same, sweet light again.

In the end, I did what any rational mother would do….I got on the internet, found a turtle breeder (yes, they do that….the little nurtles are less likely to have salmonella) and had 2 baby red eared sliders shipped overnight to our house. They are the size of quarters, and are wonderfully adorable. They spend their days outside basking in the sun, then come into the house to their little lagoon at night…the spoiled, little darlings.

As for the raccoons….they better watch out. Mia said “Well, if they come in this yard again, I will knock their teeth out and they won’t be able to eat turtles anymore”.

Isn’t she precious?