How far back does my fascination with turtles and tortoises go?
- Thread starter Skip K
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I was interested in all herps from a very early age, probably as young 2 or 3 years old. I got my first turtle at age 6 in 1952. It was a baby Snapping Turtle which I took home from a nest which I had found just as the babies began to emerge from the ground and head for the creek behind my grandfather's house in CT. I had that same Snapper until I went to college! At that point, I gave it (and many other turtles and mammal pets) to a local zoo.
I became fascinated around 1959. I was about 6. I happened to be playing on a river bank right after the turtles made their way to the river. There was probably hundreds. I caught a few and wanted to keep them but my mother made me put them back where I found them. I decided she was right but imagine her surprise when I got a tortoise at the age of 54 or so. She was right. I really wanted a tortoise ?? I like frogs and little lizards too especially anouls...
I'm going to bet most of us started as young kids. I was a very young kid. Around 6-7 and my family went camping almost every weekend. I would catch frogs, turtles, salamanders, snakes crayfish even bugs. Always let them go. Even as an adult, if I was on my dads boat, he was driving me over to the sun bathing turtles so I could try and catch one. I never found a box turtle though. My neighbors always did and it ticked me off. I never liked though that they kept them.
We lived next door to a lot that a farmer used for crops. He would smash box turtles against trees cause they ate some of his crops. I asked him to give them to me instead. Dad built a huge outdoor enclosure for them incorporating the natural bushes and ground cover...and the farmer gave me vegetables that were damaged and couldn’t sell...to feed to the box turtles. They lived outdoors year round. Had quite a few when we moved a couple years later...and dad and I released them at a park nearby. And the photo...was taken visiting my dads family in Chicago
I love these stories. We tortoise (and turtle) keepers are obviously afflicted with a kind of mental sickness. It fascinates me. I always wonder where it begins and why. Why is this drive so strong?
This is me and Dad at the San Diego Zoo in 1975. I've posted this pic before, but it seems appropriate for this thread:
What fascinates me about this picture is the body language and posture. My Dad is looking over at my Mom taking the picture and holding me back, while I'm reaching for the tortoise with my toes and my right arm, while staring transfixed.
This is me and Dad at the San Diego Zoo in 1975. I've posted this pic before, but it seems appropriate for this thread:
What fascinates me about this picture is the body language and posture. My Dad is looking over at my Mom taking the picture and holding me back, while I'm reaching for the tortoise with my toes and my right arm, while staring transfixed.
Great photo, Tom....and I really don’t care what people think about us fans of Chelonia. They ARE truly fascinating animals. I’ve mentioned this before...but I think about what the Dalai Lama said “ I learn as much from a turtle as from a religious text”
I used to love the old Japanese dubbed Godzilla movies. Watched all of them as a kid.
My daughter was very interested in TMNJ for a few years while growing up. Those were good years.
There's actually a verse in the bible that says don't hurt them. It says it differently but that's what I heard.
Fast forward to 2021 and I'm still reaching:
I found a baby mud turtle on the playground in preschool, probably around 1984, and I was hooked ever since.
ArmadilloPup
Well-Known Member
I'm so glad you were able to work something out with the farmer. I grew up on land that was a box turtle highway in the 80s. My family did small subsistence crops and I learned from my mom to plant a "distraction crop" (I think there's an actual name for it, but I don't remember). We'd sometimes find little chomps out of our veggies, but not that often, and we'd still use anything with a bite out of it if the bugs hadn't got to it yet.
I visited back home in 2019 and didn't see a single box turtle ☹️ But the snappers seem to be doing really well and we were pulling over a lot to help them across the road every time we went to town.
I love that. What a wonderful looking tortoise. I want a big one but I also have to be real about it. Even though they are basically a very peaceful animal (just one of their beautiful personality traits) I am too small...darn it.?
Box turtles were only one problem the farmer had...and they couldn’t reach for the taller crops. They were hard on tomatoes, blackberries,raspberries, squash and greens. Deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds and insects...were also hard on his crops. I remember the farmer telling me it would be ok if I searched his lot for turtles if I was careful. Smart on his part...cause I checked every day...AND...was a LIVING scarecrow now that I think about it...driving off animals. He played me for free animal control ...cause was so young...but I didn’t mind...lol
If you look closely, their feet are the cutest things ever. Yeah I’ve been told I have a little problem.
crazyanimalperson
New Member
I've always loved all kinds of animals. When I was little and we begged our parents to take us to the pet shop, one of my favorite animals to see was always the red eared slider turtles and watch them swimming around in their tank until my parents said it was time to go. I always knew that I'd have one when I grew up and so I have! 
