Then There Is This One...

  Critters are relatively smart beings.  Although they do not attend any school other than the "School of Hard Knocks", they usually do pretty well at figuring out what works and what does not.  Most animals learn from experience and it only takes once before they have something in their heads as the right thing.  Most animals...then there are those that have to be smacked by life a dozen times before they get the notion that something may be amiss.  (I know a certain dog that is either as hardheaded as a brickbat or has trouble learning things.)  Anyway, all in all, animals are pretty good at learning survival techniques.

  Then there is this one...a box turtle.  This rascal has decided that the little concrete Frog Pond is the perfect place to get a drink.  This does not bother me.  Most animals on the Bayou prefer fresh water and will often come either to the pond or the creek.  The turtle, however, seems to manage to get stuck in the pond.  Not being able to climb up the slippery slope has been problematic from the get-go for the turtle.  For the past few years, I have had to weekly pull the turtle out of the pond.  Yes, turtles like water.  Yes, they can survive as long as there is some method to come ashore occasionally.  Box turtles are actually members of the family of pond turtles but do need a bit of shore time (especially to lay eggs).  To remedy the stuck turtle problem, I decided to put several large pieces of driftwood in the pond to make a bridge to outer edge.  My resident turtle has yet to figure out how to climb the logs.  Next step was to make a stairs out of concrete pads leading up a gentle slope to the edge.  The turtle could not navigate the two inch incline.  Perhaps a series of potted plants with varying heights would encourage our (knuckle-headed) friend to climb out of the pond.  None worked.  No matter what I tried, the turtle stayed in the water swimming round and round the edge.  The weekly retrievals continued.

  This afternoon, Mark and I spied the turtle looking rather waterlogged yet again.  She was exhausted and allowed me to hoist her out of the murky waters.  Water poured from her shell.  When finally on dry ground, she hustled underneath the orange tree to dry off a bit.  Still, I have a feeling that come next week, I will see that little head poking out between the waterlilies and I will, once again, have to scoop her out.  She just never learns...or maybe I do not.  She may just be lazy and waits for me to lift her from the water.  It has become a comedic ritual.