Desert Visitor

Since moving into our home we've enjoyed the sights and sounds of the desert. Living at the base of a mountain has lent plenty of opportunity to experience nature, from coveys of quail skipping from one bush to another to hawks and eagles soaring against the cloudless bright sky, from cottontail rabbits and desert hares hopping along the dried earth to ground squirrels burrowing underneath the sand, from coyotes playing in the wash and calling to one another in the evening to bats flying in the black of night hunting for grub. We've even had a scorpion scurry along the walk, a tarantula hide in the garage - it was dead, and a king snake slither out the garage door. Thankfully we have yet to contend with a rattle snake - knock on wood.

The most memorable animal encounter we've experienced was a few months before our wedding. Winston was throwing a fit at the back fence; for those of you who are unfamiliar with Winston's fits, when he has one it is because he knows something is there whether it's a bone, a food morsel, his toy, or in this case an animal, and he wants it now and there is no shushing him until you get it for him. Brett and I went out in the backyard afraid he had stumbled upon something that could hurt him, but we didn't see anything so we took Winston inside to calm down. He bolted back out his doggy door and continued with his fit, digging and scratching at the back fence. He's a pretty smart boy, so I decided to look once more in the backyard - nope nothing - so I went to the front yard to figure out what was causing his distress, and sure enough a desert creature had come to visit - Winston wanted it and was trying his hardest to get it.

This is what I found...



...a desert tortoise! Somehow he or she - I don't know how you determine the sex of reptiles - became wedged between the back wall and the house. It may be a myth that turtles and tortoises cannot walk backwards, but this armoured guy definitely could not get out of his predicament.

Being an animal lover, I asked Brett if we could keep the tortoise. Brett, being the rational one, determined it was probably best to put it back into the desert, so I got his work gloves and unwedged Tortie - yes I named the tortoise just in case he ever came back for a visit. It took a few attempts to get this guy to stay in the desert, he kept wanting to crawl back in our yard or toward the street. Eventually, he got the gist of what we were trying to do and made his way home.





Tortie hasn't come back for a visit, but I'm sure he's happy munching on vegetation in the desert, where he belongs.