Turtle
We have a red-eared slider,
Living in our backyard pond;
She suns herself on surrounding rocks,
Avoids people of whom she’s not fond.
When we wander too closely,
She dives for her watery home,
Hits the surface with powerful purpose,
Leaving nothing but a little green foam.
We had two red-eared sliders from our local pet shop, but the male disappeared some time ago. We thought he had wandered off, as turtles are sometimes wont to do. But then, recently, the pond’s pump began going wonky. Mary thought it might be clogged; she talked to Max, the pond guy, who sort of insisted that it was something else. Trusting her previous experience with wonky pumps, Mary got into the water and examined the intake. There she found that she had indeed been correct; there was an obstruction. Apparently the male had gotten caught under the intake and drowned. Goodness, that is a sad sad story.
For a time the female had disappeared for several weeks too. The pond looked empty without any turtles, but the good news here is that she returned, can be seen sunning herself on the rocks, and diving into the pond whenever we get too close. She makes a very loud splash. The image I found is not a photo of our turtle, Esmerelda, but comes from a Wikipedia article on red-eared sliders, I think, or from somewhere in cyberspace land. I had been searching for her name for a while; his was Sludge, poor guy.
Missing
Esmerelda had a mate,
Who lived on the bottom with her;
Together they would swim and play,
Until he met an untoward fate,
And disappeared in an untoward way.
Thus today we truly say:
Have mercy on all creatures!
What luck. This system will not download my wonderful image. Frustrating! I have tried 4 times and all I get is “Error!
Hold on! I take that back, for—Goodness—I think I have just caught the turtle! Woo hoo! She looks almost exactly like our denizen of the pond, Esmerelda, though I don’t remember bulging eyes.
Anyway—Poor Sludge.
