A story from Jason:
Yesterday while pulling out of our driveway to run an
errand, I noticed two cars pulled over on the side of the road. The drivers,
with sticks in hand, were bent over the road tapping the pavement
enthusiastically.
Now, stranger things have happened on Chappy, so I briefly
considered continuing on my way, but at the last moment decided that this particular
incident begged for further investigation.
I got out of the truck and walked across the road to find
that the stick tapping was an attempt to herd a huge snapping turtle, about the
size of one my truck tires, across the road.
Despite their best efforts and all that tapping, neither driver could get the
turtle to safety. It seemed to me that the main problem arose from a
communication breakdown between the turtle and the drivers: The turtle appeared
to be fairly determined to make it to the Slip Away side of the road, and the good sized
pond that lay beyond; the drivers, however, were resolved to herd him to the
opposite side of the road and into Brine’s pond. But since I am not well versed
in turtle habits and mannerisms, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself.
Eventually one of the drivers got a shovel from the back of
his car. After several attempts to slide the shovel underneath the turtle, he
stepped back and commented that the turtle was too soft on his underside and
might get hurt.
The other driver, seeming much more adept and experienced at
turtle herding, formulated a plan. If she tapped the backside of the turtle
with her stick, she predicted that the turtle would jump into the air, giving
the second driver enough time to slide the shovel underneath him without
hurting it.
Sure enough, with one single tap, just above the tail, the
turtle leapt into the air and landed neatly on the second driver’s shovel.
With a swift, yet gentle precision, the turtle was whisked
across the road and laid down on the grassy banks of Brine’s pond.
Hours later, while celebrating the end of the day with a
game of disc golf, Christian and I noticed a strange zig-zag trail in the sand crisscrossing
our driveway. At first glance we thought it must have been a snake track. But on
closer inspection, we realized it was the unmistakable trail of a giant
snapping turtle, making its way steadily up our driveway, away from Brine’s
pond and towards the Slip Away pond.
I’d like to think that this snapping turtle made it to its
destination, and that it didn’t mind the hold up too much.
