Sad Story.....

bscar1019

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I just wanted to share this even though it’s tragic and I guess I feel guilty for not doing more... A friend of mine lives in a suburban area and sent me pics of a tort found in the driveway. I identified it as a box turtle and almost 90% a gulf coast. I told him to maybe find a place to release her in a big park that’s not far from the area because a suburban environment is pretty dangerous. I didn’t want to bring a wild tort to my house/yard for fear of spreading potential disease or parasites. He texted back that his dad told his little brother he could keep it for a while and he was going to build a small enclosure to keep it in. I told him it’s a mostly land species and just fence off an area in the yard and make sure there’s plenty cool shady areas as well as a place to hide out and a sunny basking spot and it should be fine until they can release it. Well his dad goes in the yard and filled a big plastic container with water and dropped her in it and she drowned... I’m so heartbroken and sad and angry and feel responsible for not taking her to release immediately or making a temp place in my yard... I told him exactly what to do and the dad comes in like he knows everything and drops the poor thing in deep water saying turtles need to swim....
 

Pastel Tortie

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I just wanted to share this even though it’s tragic and I guess I feel guilty for not doing more... A friend of mine lives in a suburban area and sent me pics of a tort found in the driveway. I identified it as a box turtle and almost 90% a gulf coast. I told him to maybe find a place to release her in a big park that’s not far from the area because a suburban environment is pretty dangerous. I didn’t want to bring a wild tort to my house/yard for fear of spreading potential disease or parasites. He texted back that his dad told his little brother he could keep it for a while and he was going to build a small enclosure to keep it in. I told him it’s a mostly land species and just fence off an area in the yard and make sure there’s plenty cool shady areas as well as a place to hide out and a sunny basking spot and it should be fine until they can release it. Well his dad goes in the yard and filled a big plastic container with water and dropped her in it and she drowned... I’m so heartbroken and sad and angry and feel responsible for not taking her to release immediately or making a temp place in my yard... I told him exactly what to do and the dad comes in like he knows everything and drops the poor thing in deep water saying turtles need to swim....
I'm so sorry... I'm heartbroken with you. :( It isn't your fault. You did the right thing, you gave the right advice. I know the What-Ifs are going to haunt you, but please accept that you can't fix stupid (at least until stupid is ready to listen and be fixed). When stupid is ready to listen, be ready (and be tactful).

To make peace with yourself, start planning for how you can set up a quarantine enclosure at your place...and gather supplies and equipment to use with that contingency in mind. If it's ever needed again, you'll be ready. You can't change the past, but you can prepare for the future.
 

queen koopa

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Las Vegas Nevada
I just wanted to share this even though it’s tragic and I guess I feel guilty for not doing more... A friend of mine lives in a suburban area and sent me pics of a tort found in the driveway. I identified it as a box turtle and almost 90% a gulf coast. I told him to maybe find a place to release her in a big park that’s not far from the area because a suburban environment is pretty dangerous. I didn’t want to bring a wild tort to my house/yard for fear of spreading potential disease or parasites. He texted back that his dad told his little brother he could keep it for a while and he was going to build a small enclosure to keep it in. I told him it’s a mostly land species and just fence off an area in the yard and make sure there’s plenty cool shady areas as well as a place to hide out and a sunny basking spot and it should be fine until they can release it. Well his dad goes in the yard and filled a big plastic container with water and dropped her in it and she drowned... I’m so heartbroken and sad and angry and feel responsible for not taking her to release immediately or making a temp place in my yard... I told him exactly what to do and the dad comes in like he knows everything and drops the poor thing in deep water saying turtles need to swim....

I would be infuriated with that man.

Bscar1019 is right though. Good response.
 

TammyJ

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So sorry about this. Hope some kind of lesson was learned here by the father who dropped it into the water. Wonder if he was man enough to admit that he was wrong and do something to try and make amends.
 

Lyn W

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That is so sad, but you did your best.
 

Oldbro

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But it looked like a turtle.

Most folks are clueless when it comes to wild life. I pick up turtles in the road frequently and release them in the river system close to my home. I’ve also seen drivers purposely run over turtles in that situation. That I can’t understand. You did good.
 

Oldbro

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But it looked like a turtle.

Most folks are clueless when it comes to wild life. I pick up turtles in the road frequently and release them in the river system close to my home. I’ve also seen drivers purposely run over turtles in that situation. That I can’t understand. You did good.
 

wellington

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But it looked like a turtle.

Most folks are clueless when it comes to wild life. I pick up turtles in the road frequently and release them in the river system close to my home. I’ve also seen drivers purposely run over turtles in that situation. That I can’t understand. You did good.
You do know that they need to be left where you find them but out of the road? They have their territory and will spend their life getting back to it. So when you take turtles out of the road, and let them go in the river system close to your home, if those turtles arent close to that river system, you are doing them more harm then good. Just move then to the side of the road and out of the path and sight of cars at the spot you find them.
 

wellington

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So sad the father was such a jerk. With internet it's amazing how people can't seem to figure out how to use it to educate themselves.
 

sibi

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I had a hatchling gulf box turtle that was headed to a busy road. I brought it home and tried to make a habitat for it until it was big enough to go out on it's own. To make a long story short, due to ignorance, I placed a small heating pad on one end, and the hatching liked it so much that it died from the heat!. I suffered so much blaming myself for not just directing the hatchling away from the road instead of thinking I was saving it from cars and predators. Now, I always tell people to leave the box turtle alone, just redirect their travel. Box turtles are not easy to adopt as pets. They do so much better in their natural habitat anyway. This is what I've learned from my experience, and I'd like to think my advise to others on box turtles actually save their lives.
 

JLMDVM

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I completely understand. As a vet I give advice that may or may not be listened to or followed through on- sometimes patients still get better, sometimes the consequences are bad and they get worse or die. It’s not your fault, you gave proper advice. I’d have cashed it in years ago if I didn’t get to where I force myself to accept that people are not always going to listen to good advice. As an aside, I also know that I don’t know everything, which is one reason I’m here to learn from you guys!
 
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