A brief playdate

On the way home from the girls' school (after a detour to Starbucks...it was definitely one of *those* days, as I hardly ever find myself going out for coffee anymore [besides Friday mornings at DaVinci's with the wives]) I spotted a turtle by the side of the road, lingering a bit too close to the flow of traffic.  Even though I am seriously afraid of turtles (wild ones may harbor salmonella and my oldest was bit by a giant tortoise at the OKC zoo a few years' back), I opted to grab him using a shopping bag and our coffee/water drink holder from Starbucks and took him home for an afternoon playdate in our muddy backyard (when it [rarely] rains, it pours, here).

After tossing him in an old plastic pool for a bit and trying [unsuccessfully] to feed him leaves, we noticed it looked like he had a coat of peeling red and black paint across his shell...almost as if someone had painted him to look like a ladybug?  Perhaps for halloween festivities?  Anyway, that got me thinking he may be someone's pet/domesticated/unable to survive on his own.

I put up a notice in the Student Spouse FB Group, and was prepared to keep him in the pool for a night or two to give someone a chance to claim him.  However, when I took Tunia out for her evening stroll, I found him belly up (though still alive!) in the pool, and not looking too great.  I interpreted his position as foreshadowing, and decided his odds of surviving penned up in our backyard probably weren't the greatest and opted instead to take him to the MeadowLake Park pond right down the road, off base.

I know he may be someone's pet...but I also know at least he has some chance of survival near a large water and food source...and it is hard for me to imagine a turtle escaping on its own.  It sat in a 5" deep pool with a wooden "bridge" in it (not pictured) for about 5 hours today and didn't even get close to breaking out, let alone escaping from an actual intentional enclosure.  I suppose it may have been a pet in someone's yard pond, but if that's the case I doubt I would be able to find out whose, as there are no yard ponds in base housing (yes, Petunia and I have walked all the blocks, lol) and Enid/Vance AFB are too small even for their own Craigslist, lol.  When I took him to the park, he slid right into the water and was the liveliest I'd seen him all day, so hopefully it's for the best.  :o)