Proud to announce...

I am officially a wildlife rehabilitator for the state of Ohio, reptiles only.

I have been working with turtles for quite some time and in the past few years gotten involved with Eastern Box Turtles. I recently made a connection with a local reptile rescue, and they have added me to their crew. I will be rehabbing, fostering and providing forever homes to Eastern Box turtles. I currently have five permanent placements and in the next few weeks will be taking on addt'l fosters and rehabs. My next bit of training will involve learning how to patch turtle shells.

I am super excited!!


In the picture is Pumpkin, a female Eastern Box turtle, a permanent placement.

Leslie

Aw! Thats great. The turtle is a cutie pie!! ^^

Very cool . this reminds me of a turtle rescue. My hubby and I were driving down a four lane highway, and a very large turtle was S-L-O-W-L-Y crossing the road with cars whizzing by at 60 MPH. I made my hubby pull over so we could save the turtle. Larry pulled over and dogded traffic to save this LARGE turtle. It was a nasty little guy, snapping back and forth. He ran carried it across the highway to the pond on the other side, it was obviously trying to reach that pond. When we returned to our car and started driving, I said "EWWWWWWWWWW, what is that smell??????????????" Oh man, did his hands stink........ but, it was worth it, the crabby turtle was safe and alive We had about a 30 minute drive till we got home, and had the windows WIDE open, very stinky turtle

Wonderful my friend!... congratulations!...
The Turtle on the is beautiful!...

CONGRATULATIONS Leslie, that's great!

Lauren, sounds like it was a snapping turtle. There is something called a Musk Turtle - and the name says it all - but they're not very big.

We're forever removing turtles from the road. There are SO many little lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers around here - one stretch of road, in particular, seems to have a very attractive (to turtles) lake right next to it.

Originally Posted by LDG

CONGRATULATIONS Leslie, that's great!

Lauren, sounds like it was a snapping turtle.

There is something called a Musk Turtle - and the name says it all - but they're not very big.

We're forever removing turtles from the road. There are SO many little lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers around here - one stretch of road, in particular, seems to have a very attractive (to turtles) lake right next to it.

Click to expand...

MUSK!!! Must be . Actually, even the car smelled musky for a day or so. Just awful I now remember spraying the car with Lysol for a couple of days anyway, Leslie, that turtle sure has a pretty shell The one we saved had a dark grey shell and even looked like it was moldy just a dirty little fellow!!!! But happily sauntered to the pond when we released him.

Awww, that's wonderful, congrats!

Congratulations! I wish you many years of successful reptile rescues and rehabs!

Congratulations! That's an awesome thing to get involved in.
Pumpkin has a very pretty shell.

I have memories of watching my Dad on the riding mower when he would stop, get off, pick something up, and place it down where he had already mowed. Invariably it would be a box turtle. (Sometimes a frog, but snakes got no mercy from him.)

Your upcoming training in fixing shells reminds me of a book written by a vet. As a boy he saved a turtle with a puncture in its carapace (perhaps by a sharp tooth) and puzzled how to help it. His grandmother thought a moment and got out her denture adhesive. It worked and the turtle healed.

Thanks for all the sweet congrats and thoughts. And thanks to all who help these guys safely cross roads! They took in 35 injured turtles in May alone, but I believe all have been treated and released. It is amazing what the turtles are able to withstand injury-wise and still live such long lives. I have a permanent placement who is missing his right back foot, and a severely stunted female (who was "saved" from the road 13 years ago) neglected for 10 years before her owners didn't want her anymore.

As I start to take on rescues, I'll share their stories!

Leslie