Turtle Time

About two weeks ago,
my friend D from work was saying
she took her grandson to the pet store to buy a turtle.
The only turtles they had cost $150!
She said she didn't know what kind it was.
She said it had a pretty shell that looked something like a sand dollar.
Needless to say, her gs did not get a turtle that day.

Jokingly, I said she could come down to the 'burg
and get one out the swamp or near the river.
She laughed and said no thanks
but asked Steve when he was on his travels
if he could find one for her gs.

Soooooooo
Tonight after work I took Foxy for a walk.
It was just supposed to be up one sidestreet and down the other.

But..
On the other sidestreet
a woman was walking her little dog, Maggie
who was not a happy camper
that Foxy was walking down the cross street.
Instead of turning up the street Maggie was on,
I just kept going straight to take the long way around.
I figured it would be easier on Maggie's owner and all.

Foxy and I got as far as where
there is a mowed path that is quite wide
and goes through some trees
with a small creek running through it.
I was on the street looking down the mowed path to my right,
when I saw something that looked like it might be a turtle shell.

As we got closer, I realized it was a turtle.
Probably about six or eight inches long
and three or four inches wide.
I pointed it out to Foxy.
She ignored it until it started to move.
Then she was all interested in it.

It dawned on me that D's gs wanted a turtle.
I didn't know if Steve had gotten him one or not.
I turned around and walked back to the street
and was going to leave it there.
Then I thought
if Nico wants a turtle,
then Nico shall have one.

So Fox and I went back down the path
and I picked the turtle up with my sweatshirt
and wrapped it up and casually carried it home.

I had no idea what kind of turtle this was.
If it turned out to be a snapping turtle I would take it back immediately.

So I get home and said to him
Do you know what kind of turtle this is?
He says
No, but I do know that snapping turtles have a spiked type of tail.

By this time, the turtle had withdrawn into its shell
so I was holding onto it and poking my finger into the shell.
He's all
Don't be putting your finger in there!
You could get bit!!

I am like
Dude!
I was born and raised in the country!
(Like he doesn't know this already)
I am not about to be poking my finger into the front of the shell!
I happen to be poking his backside!!
And I turned the shell around and told him
Look in there, you can see his head .
I am poking his backside!
Duh.

I put the turtle in an empty garbage can
and put some hay in it
while I went online to see what kind of turtle I had.
It is indeed a painted turtle!

So I called D and she said
No, Nico hadn't gotten a turtle yet.

I told her my story and she laughed
and said if I could keep it tonight,
that she will go after work tomorrow
and get what Nico needs to keep a turtle.
So I fixed the turtle up a nice little place with water and stones,
hay and grass,
some veggies and fruit chopped up for tonight.

And tomorrow Nico will have his turtle!

Personally, I am glad it wasn't a snapper.
Cuz if it was,
I wouldn't be taking it back to where I found it
carrying it in my sweatshirt!!!!