Sunday, April 26, 2009

Turtle on the Greenway


While Lois Anne was running at the Greenway the other day, we saw five turtles sunning themselves beside the path, fairly oblivious to runners, walkers or bikers. This turtle was a little unsure of my intentions and had started to head for the woods as fast as a turtle can head for the woods.

28 comments:

VP said...

I like the idea of riding the bike and stopping to take pictures along the Greenway. I am not familiar with the size of Florida turtles, but I guess this is quite a big one. Or not?

Efrafan Days aka Thurso Daily Photo said...

Is it a matter of perspective, or is this a tortoise-sized turtle?

Joy said...

Aaaw, you invaded its tiny paradise!

I love turtles. I always think of them as old and wise.

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cieldequimper said...

LOL! The Vatican pays for some things here... I think I'll get a gerbil.

Cezar and Léia said...

LOL :-)
Please, don't scare the turtles!
I love turtles! When I was 5, my Pop gave me one! She was soooo beautiful,like this one in this picture! But I cried a lot when she ran away from my house ( from me ! ), but in fact many years late my Mommy told me the "sad truth "that happened with my poor turtle : she died !
Today I have another one but it is made of plush!So I'm sure this one will not run away!
Léia :-)

Anonymous said...

Nice to see them out and about. A nice photo too.

Unknown said...

Turtles are such fantastic animals. This one is a beauty.

Anonymous said...

Love those big turtles. In Miramar, we lived on a canal, and for several years, a large turtle laid her eggs in our backyard. It was fascinating. One year, somehow the babies got disoriented and headed the wrong direction, so my son and I collected them in a big bucket and put them in the water. He's never forgotten that.

Lowell said...

Hi Susie: Where did you live in Miramar? Lois and I both taught at H. D. Perry Middle School for a number of years! We lived in Pembroke Pines at the time.

Maybe you were in one of our classes?

Lowell said...

@ cieldequimper - Gerbils eat your clothes if they get loose!

Lowell said...

@ Efrafan - No biggie...I'd say 12 inches across by 18 inches long...

Lowell said...

@ Vogon Poet - re: size; see previous comment.

Small City Scenes said...

How cool. We have smaller colorful turtles around some of the lakes in eastern washington. Much smaller. MB

magiceye said...

glad you caught up quick :)
that is a lovely capture!

crocrodyl said...

Hehe - nice photo:)

Judy said...

Love the turtle.

Marie-Noyale said...

I do like turtles!

EG CameraGirl said...

That looks like BIG turtle. I'm used to much littler ones. ;-)

Gerald (SK14) said...

what a lovely find

Lois said...

Is that a gopher turtle? My father always used to talk about how they made gopher stew out of these turtles when he was growing up near St. Augustine.

Lowell said...

@ Lois - Yes, I'm sure that it is. I wouldn't want to eat one, though.

Stefan Jansson said...

Glad you could keep up with the turtle long enough to take a photo!

Pat said...

I'm a big turtle fan, and have raised many a water turtle! I like this guy.

Lowell said...

@ Steffe - Your comment caught me still sleepy...now, I'm still laughing! You're a funny guy!

Rob said...

You up here in Minneapolis on the Greenway in Uptown? LOL He's a big guy!

PRH said...

Tortoise or Gopher Turtles as we called them growing up in Venice, on the Gulf....I had one back in the 1950s I kept until setting him free when we moved back to Ohio in 1963..."Goofy the Gopher" we called him.

Lowell said...

@ PRH - Love your stories...we love Venice, too, and used to vacation there almost every year - had great fun finding shark teeth - filled a jar!

Can't imagine moved back to Ohio in 1963. I had to move from Phoenix to Minneapolis in 1953! Didn't like that at all!

Christianne said...

This looks like a desert tortoise (native to and endangered in the Mojave Desert in Calif.). My grandparents raised them, and while living in CA we had a couple when it was still legal for regular people to "own" them... I love the picture!

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson