Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

[WitchyOoman]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

We took some pictures of 55-ish year old Georgie today, some of him playing with us, others of him with a few of our cats. Pictures soon come.

[WitchyOoman]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-weight: bold"> Meet Georgie!</span></span>











<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">You can see the top center of his carapace (top shell) where the scutes are misshapen) his big bad 'dent' - where Mr Witchy broke his shell in half 55-some-odd years ago with his lawnmower. But Mr Witchy superglued the carapace back together carefully ... and Georgie obviously survived and thrived.</span></span>

[WitchyOoman]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Georgie and I are having a conversation.

Sometimes I talk and he listens...</span></span>




<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">... and sometimes he hisses and I listen.</span></span>

[WitchyOoman]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

<span style="font-size: 17pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Georgie is fearless.

Here, he stands his ground against Ozzie Osbourne (tabby w/ white), with Gracie Slick (black-n-white) in the background listening to the argument.</span></span>

[Tulip]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

Georgie is alert and vibrant-looking. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but he's cute.

Are you saying Mr. Witchy has had him since he was a baby turtle? How to your cats react to him? Do they play with him or interact with him in any way?

[Nanook]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

Georgie is a doll!!! Cuteness. He looks intelligent.

[WitchyOoman]

Re: Dead or hibernating? (We can't tell...)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tulip</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Georgie is alert and vibrant-looking. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but he's cute.

Are you saying Mr. Witchy has had him since he was a baby turtle? How to your cats react to him? Do they play with him or interact with him in any way? </div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nanook</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Georgie is a doll!!! Cuteness. He looks intelligent. </div></div>
Georgie was under 4 or 5 years old when Mr Witchy ran over him with the lawn mower; that is a very young juvenile... just out of babyhood, but only barely. That was about 50 years ago... circa 1961. At that time, Georgie fit into Mr Witchy's shirt pocket.

Georgie is quite gregarious; he loves people and other animals. He's also fearless, since he was raised in captivity he knows no reason to fear other beings. Midnight used to nose the turtle and herd him away from danger. Rufus just tries to lick him. Other dogs mostly just sniff at him or reach out to him with a paw to pat at him gently. My cats have various reactions to Georgie. Some fear him and jump and run away. Other cats sniff at him and try to soft paw the turtle. Yet others try to nose him about like Midnight did.

Georgie is <span style="font-style: italic">FAST AS HELL</span> when he wants to be!! He has won every race he's ever been in! And he climbs like a mountain goat. But, like I said, Georgie knows no fear, and he often climbs too steep a grade and falls, landing upside down on his back. A turtle will die from respiratory distress if left on his back for too long. (about 24 hours) In the wild, a turtle is also susceptible to death when upside down due to dehydration and/or due to helplessness if a predator comes. (they have trouble shelling in if they're upside down) Turtles can often right themselves from an upside-down position by pushing their head against the ground sideways with their very strong neck muscles, and often the leverage they gain is enough to right themselves.

Once, perhaps 15 years ago, here, Georgie somehow managed to climb over the turtles' backs and right out of the glass turtle cage, but once over the cage edge, Georgie fell off the dining room window ledge (it's a big bay window seat) and into one of the cats' food bowls on the floor, landing in the bowl upside down. Poor Georgie was caught tightly in the darn bowl. In the morning, when Mr Witchy and I came downstairs to check up on all of the critters - we found the cats standing before their food bowls, looking quite upset, and Goergie upended in one bowl, looking quite helpless and humiliated. We almost busted our seams laughing!

Turtles are quite intelligent. Turtles are older than other reptiles; the oldest turtles date from something like 15 million years ago... as opposed to lizards and snakes and other reptiles - many of which date from much later. Turtles have had a lot of time to 'learn'.