This morning, on my drive to work, I noticed a man standing in the middle of the street. This isn't so unusual here in the big city, it seems like each morning there is someone, somewhere on my route in, that is standing in the middle of the street.
This one was different though.
He was standing next to what looked to be a big black lump. At first I was scared to look, concerned that it might be a dead animal. I'm not good with dead animals. I generally boo hoo when I see them.
Lo and behold -- it wasn't a dead animal. It was a gigantic turtle. I turned on my turn signal, turned the car around and parked nearby. I approached the man in the road and asked if I could help. What can I say, I have a soft spot for the hard-shelled creatures.
When I say gigantic, I want you to picture the shell size of an average TV tray or Thanksgiving platter. He/she was a bigg'un.
A snapper turtle no less, and none too please with being poked and prodded in the middle of the road by some well-meaning humans. It was two guys and me. The original guy had been battling the turtle for awhile, and had been snapped at. He wasn't interested in getting bit. Nor was I. The other guy came with a hammer, apparently to prod the turtle to the other side of the road without being bit.
It was then that two guys came up and offered to move the turtle to the nearby pond. I took the hammer from the second guy and teased the turtle with it. He snapped on the hammerhead with such force it was incredible. At that same moment, one of the turtle movers came up and picked him up ... and hauled him to the trunk of their car. As the turtle felt unsafe being picked up, he retreated into his shell.
I returned the hammer to the second guy, thanked the first guy for trying to help the turtle and wished good wishes on the turtle movers, now with a car trunk full of angry, big, snapper turtle and on their way to the nearby pond.
So that was my morning, all before 7:30. How about you?
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