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Sure-footed SHERLOCK

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Date: 06/12/05

Tags:

animals aquarium box dead drink glad glass grow heads leaf lights log nature pet rest shoe space tank turtle turtles water waterfall

I am not a believer in pet shops, and refuse to purchase animals at such places, yet there are instances worthy of exception. Sherlock was one of these cases. I was running a "pet-food errand" and came across an aquarium labeled "IRREGULAR THREE-TOED TURTLES". I had never seen anything like that before, so peered in and saw a few bloated dead turtles, and at least 15 others crammed into a space so small none of them could move very well. Most of them had their eyes wide-open and their heads rested on the glass bottom, some had cracked shells and there was no water to be seen anywhere in the tank. It was disgusting, to say the least. Only one turtle in the tank was moving, and quite violently. He was crawling on all the other turtles, literally standing on them, a layer of his shell cracked-off already, and most other parts of his shell discolored...smashing himself head-first into the glass! I called over one of the cust. service people, asked them to remove the deceased turtles and give them water and food as I watched, otherwise, I threatened, I would place an official complaint with the proper city officials and have them fined for neglect. I asked at that moment how long that turtle had seemed to be attempting escape, and he said "Since he came in two days ago". I told him to box him up because he was coming home with me. To this day, Sherlock refuses to be caged in any enclosure, no matter how luxurious or organic. I had gone so far as to grow natural grass in an enormous tank with a water-circulating waterbowl with a waterfall built into it...he would not be caged. He slammed himself against the glass, flipped himself over and so on. I purchased a log cabin, placed it at a low-traffic part of the house, strategically placed ultra-violet lights around the home, along with water bowls he could drink from or bathe in. He has been roaming free amongst the other animals for three years now. The cats ignore him or sleep close to him, the dogs walk around him, the most threatening incidents have been made-up of sniffing or attempting to snatch away a leaf of lettuce or such from his areas. He never juts-back into his shell, or hides from them, and likes to rest on my shoe (while I am still wearing it) at least once every two days. The dogs and cats have been taught not to drink from his water, but to walk to their corresponding feed-spots and get some of their own. He is investigative in nature and revels in his freedom, I am glad to have been able to provide him with the kind of life he so righteously deserved.