Bitten
It's true that sometimes, trying to do a good deed will come back and bite you.
Well that happened to me this morning. Literally.
V, M and I had just finished our first errand of the day and were heading off to our next stop when I noticed an unusual thing that prompted me to pull over to the side of the road. A very small turtle was beginning to cross the street in front of my car. This road is not the busiest road in the town but it does see heavier traffic on Saturdays due to the recycling center and transfer station nearby from which we had just come. I figured that there was a better than average chance that someone driving by would not see it and inadvertently squash the little sucker flat.
The little turtle must have seen me coming closer. It started to move faster, trying to run away from me, thinking I was a predator instead of trying to save its life. I picked it up to show V and M through the car window. V asked me if we could keep it. As I was telling her no, I took my eyes off of it and the little nipper bit me on my right index finger. So instead of carrying it a few feet into the woods I tossed it in that direction rather hastily, and a little rougher than I had intended, since the bite caught me off guard.
Too bad I didn't snap a picture of the little nipper first.
posted by Tim @ 13:30
5 Comments:
it happens quite a lot actually
Yasser: First of all, welcome to my blog and thanks for commenting. I hope you'll keep coming back, if you don't already.
Yes, I know turtles cross roads frequently. When I say unusual I mean that *I* have rarely come across such a thing. Perhaps I should have clarified that more in the post.
I guess that was just the turtle's first instinct when you picked him up. After all, being that he's such a small animal and seeing you - which to him is like seeing a massive, gigantic object swooping down on him, - he did the only thing he could do to save himself, or so he thought. That was a really nice thing you did green. Many people just pass on by without even trying to help save a life. Good job! :)
I wonder if it was a snapper? A very young one, probably. I've saved several of those and several box turtles. Even took one home and re-deposited it in a small dam down below where we lived. My girls loved it. They're both animal lovers, like Mom :)
Your finger will heal, and you'll be ready to save another turtle in on time ;)
zep: howdy stranger!!! I would assume you are correct in that the turtle bit me solely as a defense mechanism.
dabich: I believe it was a snapper and most certainly a young one. It definitely was not a box turtle. The turtle would have fit nicely in the palm of my hand. And yes, my finger will heal easily in time for the next rescue effort! I really wish I had gotten a
picture of it.
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