MADDOGS

WEDNESDAY--Late yesterday afternoon it finally dawned on me to look up the turtle in my Field Guide. It was an adult Western Pond Turtle, a species that is indigenous to the Sacramento Region. It was definately a turtle caught in the wild, and not purchased for a pet.

Ben has a creek by his place that he can hike to and release the turtle far away from any roads. We decided that was the best. So I hauled the turtle over to Melody's, as Tuesday is group night, and Ben met me there to pick the turtle up. For the record, this is not the first turtle rescue we've done.

Melody kept wondering where the turtle came from, as I don't live very to close to any body of water. She thought maybe someone caught it and was going to eat it.

BLING-BLING! The light goes on. Our neighbors are Mongs, and there is a long record of them eating dogs (The City says that is OK because the dogs belonged to them and the City hadn't recieved any complaints of missing dogs in our neighborhood), and slaughtering livestock in their backyard to cook for celebrations.

It just fits. The turtle had escaped, probably by digging under the fence, and came knocking on my door for help. Ben and I were glad to help him escape the soup pot. Now the turtle can go back to digging in the mud at the bottom of the creek, sunning on the rocks, and doing whatever it is that turtles do. Hopefully, this turtle won't have any more run-ins with people. I gave him my cell number, just in case.