Saturday, June 1, 2013

No Good Deed... (Involving Further Reptiles)

The above picture has nothing to do with this post. It was an attempt to try and capture a puddle on our deck that had the weirdest little band of distant sky and trees reflected at the top; oh well, you probably had to be there.
On the other hand, be glad you weren't with me yesterday. On my way into work I had to slam on the brakes, make a U turn to go back and save (another) turtle, halfway across a somewhat busy road. A woman coming from the other direction put on her emergency flashers and made sure that the turtle and I made it safely to the other side. We gave each other a big thumbs up. Second one in as many days!
Later that day, on my way home, I see a turtle (hopefully a different one!) a bit further down the road and I again pull over and pick up this bit of pre-history and lift him/her to safety.
Except this particular reptile is feisty and not only doesn't retract placidly into it's shell, it starts scrambling with all four scaly little hooves and then lets loose a furious stream of explosive, warm turtle pee all over my hands and legs. Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuukkk!!! Not what I had in mind as thanks for saving a life.
I deposited the little ingrate on the roads shoulder and wiped my hands as best I could on the grass. As I drove off, I kept glancing at my legs, thinking maybe turtle liquids are like sulfuric acid and would eat away the fabric of my pants (glad I wasn't in shorts!) As you may have guessed, it takes quite a major episode to gross me out, but it was hot and sticky and I'm covered with alien piss. Just gross.
So about a mile later, what do I see? ANOTHER turtle clamoring across yet another road. I start wondering if there's a quota for rescues and maybe I've reached it but I dutifully pulled over and delivered this little monster to safety, too. I sure hope the turtle gods are smiling on me and offering some kind of good karma.

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