Friday, September 26, 2008
DON'T FENCE ME IN
Franklin and I saw the neighbors' desert tortoise last night.
We see him every year or so. Actually there are two of them in the same yard.
So we saw one of them.
Soon there will be only one though.
These fellas are about two feet long and a foot tall. And they have reached mating age.
Problem.
The guys get horny and 'fight' one another. It is a slow motion battle but not one which you want them to get into. Damage is done.
They require a ten mile territory, so the yard, as big as it is, is not big enough for the guys to get along.
Hey. From my perspective, these bruisers ought to make love not war but that is apparently not the orientation of the shell men.
So one of them is going to go. Find a new home.
A lot of people have these as pets. Actually they are not pets at all. It is just that they use the people's house and yard as their territory.
They hibernate a few months a year. Usually in a closet or somewhere dark and undisturbed.
Then they come out and just walk here and there and eat and look around to see if there is another turtle in the territory.
Every once in a while one of these guys gets out. No one knows how. But they don't go far and, god knows, they don't move very fast.
It was fun to see this one. It will be awhile before we get the chance again.
