In addition to being the traditional event of reuniting with family and spending some time together for us humans, this Thanksgiving marked a special transition point for the community of the back yard. Dart has moved to a new home, and new caretakers.
Dart is an Eastern Box Tortoise who joined the family accidentally nigh on twenty or so years ago when he was found, quite out of place, in the middle of a street in our neighborhood. Since that time, he's been a resident of the lush back yard, where he has stalked snails, occasionally dined on a gift of banana, and bathed in a big pond of water every morning before leaving trails in the dew-laden grass.
Now, however, change is coming to the back yard, and there won't be the kind of grassy terrain Dart needs to roam free. So a new home was secured for him, with Thanksgiving weekend as the scheduled move date. This was nice, since it meant I was able to come home and say goodbye. I was a little sad to see him go, but I remind myself that it's been more than ten years since Dart saw a member of his own Class, let alone another turtle.
Dart's new home is a bit of a turtle sanctuary. Our long-time bachelor hermit has said goodbye to the days of staring contests with the neighbor's cat (hint: turtle wins), and hello to a community of turtles.
Pictures of the moving process in the extended, with some comments.
Disassembling the turtle home. It's already cold enough that Dart isn't really coming out if he can help it.
He's still pretty bottled up in this picture.
Starting to check out what's going on.
Dart, a perfect Eastern Box Tortoise. You can tell he's a "he" because of the red eyes.
More Dart, waiting for the move.
Sticking his neck out and really looking around. Somewhere, I think I have a good picture of him standing, so you can see his legs. There are no pictures of him "walking", as such.
Being carried to the car.
Dart in his passenger space, ready to go (and completely bottled up -- yes, a turtle really can pull entirely into its shell).