White Dog hopped up and sat gently against me this morning. This is not her usual return from running in the Park and helping Steve with early morning feeding chores so I felt a disquiet. When Steve sat on the bed next to her and took my hand I knew the next words were not going to be good news. "Tortuga died," Steve said softly.
It was just last weekend that we finally moved our Saharan Spur-Heeled Tortoise to his summer enclosure in the yard. All week he relished the fresh air and the sunlight. He ate with gusto. This morning when White Dog and Steve went out to feed him and spend a little time talking with him (as they do each morning), they found him in the corner of his shelter, no longer of this realm.
Tortuga came into our lives as a Biology Project when I home schooled my niece through her high school years. She wanted to follow the life of and learn about an animal "most people don't find cute or interesting." She discovered Tortuga actually had a personality (he loved watermelon, hated strawberries...would come when she clapped...was stubborn about being told "no"); that he was beautiful in a body filled with geometric patterns and amazing adaptations, and that his species was far older and wiser than humans. That was seven years ago. It never failed when my niece, now a mom, brought her son to visit, that he wanted to "see the giant turtle." He, too, was fascinated with this quiet mysterious being (who had grown from palm size to be 16" across) that scared him yet compelled him to want to feel the many textures of Tortuga's shell, and legs, and head.
Our family gathered in the yard at sunset tonight to bury Tortuga and to mark his passing with our farewells. White Dog and Quinn both sat at attention next to the grave in absolute stillness as Steve filled the hole and covered the grave with a large stone. I shed tears for times past that will never be again as well as for potential cut short (Tortuga will never see his 140th birthday as many of his species do). White Dog moved to sit next to me and licked my hand in comfort.
We know there is a special place over the Rainbow Bridge where even slow ponderous tortoises play and enjoy a perfect afterlife. We wish Tortuga godspeed and thank him for sharing our lives.
It was just last weekend that we finally moved our Saharan Spur-Heeled Tortoise to his summer enclosure in the yard. All week he relished the fresh air and the sunlight. He ate with gusto. This morning when White Dog and Steve went out to feed him and spend a little time talking with him (as they do each morning), they found him in the corner of his shelter, no longer of this realm.
Tortuga came into our lives as a Biology Project when I home schooled my niece through her high school years. She wanted to follow the life of and learn about an animal "most people don't find cute or interesting." She discovered Tortuga actually had a personality (he loved watermelon, hated strawberries...would come when she clapped...was stubborn about being told "no"); that he was beautiful in a body filled with geometric patterns and amazing adaptations, and that his species was far older and wiser than humans. That was seven years ago. It never failed when my niece, now a mom, brought her son to visit, that he wanted to "see the giant turtle." He, too, was fascinated with this quiet mysterious being (who had grown from palm size to be 16" across) that scared him yet compelled him to want to feel the many textures of Tortuga's shell, and legs, and head.
Our family gathered in the yard at sunset tonight to bury Tortuga and to mark his passing with our farewells. White Dog and Quinn both sat at attention next to the grave in absolute stillness as Steve filled the hole and covered the grave with a large stone. I shed tears for times past that will never be again as well as for potential cut short (Tortuga will never see his 140th birthday as many of his species do). White Dog moved to sit next to me and licked my hand in comfort.
We know there is a special place over the Rainbow Bridge where even slow ponderous tortoises play and enjoy a perfect afterlife. We wish Tortuga godspeed and thank him for sharing our lives.