We saw this adorable guy in our backyard! He was actually pretty big, too! He is a softshell turtle. He was so cool, and he didn't even hide from us. He was, however, stuck at the fence line and was lost. Florida soft shell turtles spend most of their life in the water. They usually only come out to bask a bit and lay eggs, and I am pretty sure this one was just lost.
So... we scooped him up and put him in a recycling bin to keep him safe and we drove him to the biggest lake in our neighborhood. We have two little ones and a bigger one.
It was so neat how soft and leathery his shell was. Apparently they can be anywhere from 10 to 44 pounds normally, but there is a recorded 96lb female that was found! WOW! Also, they are supposedly the fastest turtles on land and in the water. We we got him to the lake to release him... I have NEVER seen a turtle move so fast in all my life!
It was just a super cool experience to have a few minutes up close with him, and then help him back to the water. Not sure why he wandered so far, but our house is definitely not close to the lakes so I guess he just went for a stroll and got side tracked lol.
Other than this guy, not much going on here. I pulled a muscle in my back again and have spent most of the week laying in bed or using one chair that doesn't hurt me and sewing a bit. It is very frustrating as I hate doing nothing and of course my girls would much rather be having fun over their summer break darnnit :( but, it is what it is, right?
What have you been up to? Any wildlife visits for you?
-Tanyia
Ugh. Sorry to hear about your back. I dont know that I've ever seen a soft shell turtle. He's pretty cool! We had bats last year and I just loved them! They kept the bugs down and were lots of fun to watch. They didnt move back in this year, we were sad pandas over that. :(
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