So the other day I happened to be down near one of the many drainage ditches on campus, specifically the one that runs from the tennis court area/intramural fields toward southfarm. I look down and happen to see a small softshell turtle. Well, my old turtle catching instincts came right back. I didn't have a net, so I fished a soda bottle out of a garbage can and scooped him up with that. I was rather stoked. I was giddy about having a turtle again. I kept him in a tupperware thing over night and went back the next day (today) to get some water and sand for him. I found another one and caught him as well. There were also some of the familiar red-ear sliders, but they were all too big for me to keep, and also an adult softshell (8" diameter or so shell). Went to Walmart and got a 10-gallon aquarium for $10 to keep them in. Went back to school this evening, and stopped by the same ditch... caught 2 more! So that makes 4 baby softshell turtles. They seem to have plenty of room in the aquarium, and I went to Eckie's Pond to get some more water and managed to catch some minnows as well. I'm keeping the aquarium in my office here at school. Kristen didn't like the smell of the pond water, can't blame her. It's also pretty murky, so I'm probably going to work something out better this weekend. I might have to find some cleaner sand or something... Anywho, there's a picture of one of them, they're all about the same size (2" diamter shell). It's fun to have turtles again, but I have a feeling my vegan office-mate is going to be grumpy about me torturing them or something (it's Kevin Toepke, Teal ).
