Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Big Mama, free at last


Yesterday would have been a good day to work out in the yard...overcast and in the 70s, no wind...but I just didn't feel like it, afib acting up and making me feel lightheaded. Perhaps I overdid it Sunday over at the shop yard in the sun and developing humidity and no hat with the chainsaw cutting down and cutting up the purple orchid tree which is showing no sign of coming back.

Which is fine I guess since it has never bloomed, never had a winter where it didn't freeze to the ground since I planted it. Why this winter finally did it in I don't know because it was the biggest and best well established as it has ever been. After I took care of the purple orchid tree and the big yellow bells dead branches I cut down two small hackberry trees and then used my pruners to cut back the two hummingbird bushes over there and then cut out as much of the virginia creeper that is taking over my big dewberry patch to the point that I'm not getting any berries, or rather, can't see them because as I cut that stuff away I exposed a dozen or so big fat perfectly ripe berries that went straight into my mouth.

After I came in and cooled off and rested, I filled the 5 gallon bucket with walking onion crap for the fourth time only this time I was working in the little backyard, the small fenced part of the yard outside the back door where the turtle pond is. I'd been out there for an hour or so when I realized Big Mama was not on her sunning board, also the pond pump was stopped up. I cleared the basket on the pump and then scooped out the crud floating on the top and no Big Mama who ordinarily would appear at any activity in her pond. So I knocked on the rim. That's the dinner bell. No turtle. Knocked again and again. No turtle. When did I see her last? The day last week that I fed her, maybe the day after that but I haven't been out in the little backyard, working instead elsewhere. I searched the little backyard. No turtle.

When we first bought the big 500 gallon stock tank and moved Big Mama out here from the Houston house I went along and lined the bottom of the chain link fence with bricks and concrete shoulder border pieces and made sure she couldn't get out under the fence which did not touch solid ground in many places. All was well until Harvey and the house flooding and after several hard rains over the subsequent years left water standing in the yard, it occurred to me that my brick border around the bottom of the fence was preventing the water from running off. So I pulled a few of them away in a couple of spots last summer.

I had also set up her sunning board on the edge of the pond with a ramp down when I set up the big pond so she could get in and out of the pond in the spring when she gets her walkabout urge for egg laying or when she's hungry after fasting all winter and she sees me in the yard, she'll climb out and make a beeline for me, being the source of food in her world. Well, that ramp rotted, had been laying on the ground all winter and I finally tossed it on the burn pile a couple of weeks ago and just hadn't replaced it yet. So this is what I think, she took a nose dive off the edge of her pond, which she has done before though I've found her in the yard and put her back in her pond, and unable to get back in she started probing the fence line and found one of the spots that she could squeeze under and off she went in search of water, food, or a place to dig to lay her one or two eggs.

At any rate, Big Mama is gone. I hope she finds water because red ear sliders have to be in water to eat. I hope she finds food, knows what is food in the wild as she has been hand fed her entire life. We've had that turtle for 33 years, since she was the size of a 50¢ coin, and truly I expected the kids to inherit her. I feel terrible knowing that I opened those few spots that allowed her to escape. She has made many attempts to escape over the years and we found her in the ditch several times when we lived in the city and once she had even made it halfway down the street before one of the neighbor kids saw her and brought her back. Well, she finally succeeded. Free at last.

I hope she survives.


the last picture I took of Big Mama, Dec. 20, 2022

If you want to read her story, click here.



15 comments:

  1. Oh man. I wish Big Mama success in the wide wide world!

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  2. I am so sorry to hear that Big Mama has ventured out on her own. Maybe she will come back when she realizes she depends on you. I don't think my turtle would be able to thrive on her own. She is very particular about her food and sometimes will only eat if we hand feed her. You will always wonder about her.

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  3. Oh, Big Mama! Vaya con Dios!
    Try not to be upset, Ellen. Wild things want to be wild.

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  4. Can you check with your neighbors in case she turns up in their yards? Or put up signs in case someone spots her? You will be looking for her now whenever you leave your property!

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  5. Yes, safe travels to her. I hope it's just a small turtle vacation and not an exodus.

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  6. I'm sorry Big Mama made her escape, but maybe this is simply her following her natural instincts to look for a mate and nest. She might even come back since she knows where her "pond" is. If you put a ramp back you might find her there one day!

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  7. I am so sorry that Big Mama has taken off. She's been with you for a long time.

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  8. What a beautiful turtle. Do you know how old she could get? Like is she at 33 quite old or only a young adult?

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    1. in general, in captivity, 40 - 50 years; in the wild 20 - 30 years though one site said they've been reported to live 60 - 70 years in the wild. I suppose it's possible that she died instead of escaping and her corpse is buried in the muck at the bottom of her pond but she seemed healthy and active enough last week when I fed her.

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  9. Awww I love her, I hope she has good travels and a happy ever after.

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  10. She finally made it. I hope her instincts about food kick in and she can forage.

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  11. Oh dear, that's sad to read although you do say she wanted to escape all the time. Many years ago we visited a turtle sanctuary in France (Le Village des Tortues, Carnoules) and had all the lectures about how they really should be in pairs, outdoors and never fenced in etc. basically discouraging people who intend to have them as pets indoors. You did all you could and more. Maybe you'll find her again, she may well be alive somewhere.

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    1. I had considered releasing her into the bayou many times when we lived in the city but never did. I wasn't sure she would survive.

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  12. Oh, my gosh. That's really distressing. I suppose it's sheer fancy to think that she might make her way back home, but that's exactly what I hope happens. Are there other 'watery' spots around where she might set up housekeeping? Recognizing food in the wild could be an issue, but then again, turtles are smart. I'd bet she'd figure that one out.

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  13. I hope that Big Mama does well in the big world she has entered. Testudines have survived and prospered for millenia and I suspect she will marshal all her natural skills to survive her escape. I wish her well.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.