A Sad Farewell

This past May we found a special little friend right in own backyard. 

 

We soon grew attached and decided to give him a temporary home in our family room.  Also, we read that raising a baby turtle until it gets big enough actually helps the turtle's chance of survival.  So, after investing in a small tank, turtle food, and a few other supplies, we decided that this young turtle needed a name.  This was certainly a job for the young ladies of the family.  Rylen and Marianne agreed that his name would be Lime.

[Although we mostly referred to Lime as a "he," we actually never knew if this turtle was a boy or a girl.  Apparently it's hard to tell until after the turtle turns a year old, according to our crash course turtle research.]

It turns out we were hosting an entire turtle family in our backyard.  About a month after we found Lime, we found another painted turtle...this time a huge one.  We assumed it was one of Lime's parents and walked it down to the lake that is only about three minutes from our house.  A month or so after that we found another huge, painted turtle....Lime's other parent, of course, whom we also took to the lake.

 

But through all of this turtle discovery, Lime remained a fixture in his cozy corner of our family room.  The kids loved him and I have to say that I was a bit attached myself!  (Dan was definitely not, but he was a good sport about the whole thing :)

Recently, though, I noticed how Lime had grown and that he seemed quite big for his little tank.  I began to think that he might just be big enough to make it on his own.  And we have a beautiful, huge lake within walking distance.  And his parents are there.  And how it  really is the perfect turtle habitat!

I had decided that it was time for Lime to go.

So one evening Dan, Lime, and two very sad little girls walked to the lake to set him free.  We were proud of them for doing the "right thing," even through choked sobs and tearful goodbyes.

That's the story of our summer with a tiny, sweet, baby turtle.

 

Bon voyage, little Lime!