From the yard I could see a deer in the pasture. Then it was joined by another, before they both bounded off.
It has been raining a lot. I missed several walks in the past few days after lunch, because it started to rain just when I wanted to go for a walk. Everything is soaked, even the peony.
Though the turtle had been moving along at a good pace, for a turtle, it stopped dead in its tracks when it saw me approach.
Evasive maneuvers for a turtle seem to be to stay very still. I was lucky that it did not withdraw completely into its shell.
There were tiny little flies and other insects buzzing right in front of the turtle's head, and I wondered whether it wanted to eat them.
My turtle expert friend, Pam Keyes, identified this as a female three-toed box turtle who is rather old -- at least fifty years old, she said, if not older.
The turtle has had some sort of traumatic encounter with a predator in the past, as there are bite marks on her shell.
I wanted to get to know her better, but really what can you say to a turtle to elicit its life story?
I also wanted her to start walking again, so I could get some footage of that, but it was clear that as long as I kept staring at her, the turtle was not going anywhere. So I decided to walk away for a while to give the turtle a chance to get going. My plan was to come back and film her from behind as she walked away, because that seems to be less disruptive for turtles.
As I walked away, in the direction of the lagoon and the peony, a rabbit caught my eye.
The evasive maneuver of the rabbit is to sit still until you approach a little closer, then to lead you on a merry chase.
The rabbit loves to run in zigzags to try to confuse its pursuer. After it had led me all around a pine tree and zig-zagged across the lawn, it went straight to the fence-line. I decided not to pursue any further, and just go back to check on the turtle's progress. But when I returned to the spot, the turtle was long gone. That fifty year old female box turtle had taken a lot less time than the rabbit to move on. This reminded me of the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.
Evasive maneuvers for a turtle seem to be to stay very still. I was lucky that it did not withdraw completely into its shell.
There were tiny little flies and other insects buzzing right in front of the turtle's head, and I wondered whether it wanted to eat them.
My turtle expert friend, Pam Keyes, identified this as a female three-toed box turtle who is rather old -- at least fifty years old, she said, if not older.
The turtle has had some sort of traumatic encounter with a predator in the past, as there are bite marks on her shell.
I wanted to get to know her better, but really what can you say to a turtle to elicit its life story?
I also wanted her to start walking again, so I could get some footage of that, but it was clear that as long as I kept staring at her, the turtle was not going anywhere. So I decided to walk away for a while to give the turtle a chance to get going. My plan was to come back and film her from behind as she walked away, because that seems to be less disruptive for turtles.
As I walked away, in the direction of the lagoon and the peony, a rabbit caught my eye.
The rabbit loves to run in zigzags to try to confuse its pursuer. After it had led me all around a pine tree and zig-zagged across the lawn, it went straight to the fence-line. I decided not to pursue any further, and just go back to check on the turtle's progress. But when I returned to the spot, the turtle was long gone. That fifty year old female box turtle had taken a lot less time than the rabbit to move on. This reminded me of the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.
I spotted a domestric rabbit when I was riding home on the trail today. Someone laughed that I took its picture, but I honestly do not care. It was a cute rabbit, and I wanted to take its picture.
ReplyDeleteHi, Julia. I think all rabbits are interesting, both wild and domesticated. I don't know why anyone would find it funny that you wanted to take a photo of the rabbit.
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